Texas Workers' Comp Calculator

How to use this Texas workers comp calculator

1. Enter your average weekly wage (AWW): the average of your wages in the 13 weeks before the injury, including overtime and the value of benefits like employer-paid health insurance. Use the figure from your wage statement.
2. Enter what you can still earn per week after the injury, such as light-duty wages. Enter 0 if you are off work entirely.
3. Answer whether you earned less than $10.00 an hour when you were injured. If you did, the rate rises from 70% to 75%.
4. Pick the benefit year that contains your date of injury so the tool uses the right state maximum and minimum.
5. Optionally enter an impairment rating to estimate Impairment Income Benefits (IIBs) after you reach maximum medical improvement.
6. Read your estimated weekly Temporary Income Benefit, the rate applied, and whether the state maximum or minimum is the binding limit.

How it works

Texas workers’ compensation pays income benefits to replace part of the wages you lose to a work injury. While you are recovering, the most common one is Temporary Income Benefits (TIBs). TIBs are 70% of your wage loss, which is the difference between your average weekly wage (AWW) and what you can still earn after the injury (Texas Labor Code 408.103, Texas Public Law). If you are off work entirely, your post-injury earnings are 0 and TIBs are 70% of your full AWW. If you are back on light duty earning some wages, TIBs are 70% of only the difference. The rate rises to 75% if you earned less than $10.00 an hour when you were hurt (Temporary income benefits, Texas DWC).

Your AWW is the average of what you were paid in the 13 weeks before the injury: add up those wages, including overtime and the value of benefits like employer-paid health insurance, then divide by 13. This calculator takes your AWW and your post-injury earnings, multiplies the difference by 70% or 75%, then applies the two limits Texas sets every year. The maximum weekly benefit equals 100% of the State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW), and the minimum weekly benefit is 15% of the SAWW (Workers’ compensation income and medical benefits, Texas DWC). Those caps reset each benefit year, which runs October 1 through September 30, so the right figure depends on your date of injury. The 2025-2026 year covers injuries on or after Oct 1, 2025; 2024-2025 covers Oct 1, 2024 to Sep 30, 2025; 2023-2024 covers Oct 1, 2023 to Sep 30, 2024.

If your benefit lands above the maximum, you receive the maximum. If it lands below the minimum, you receive the minimum. Otherwise you receive the percentage of your wage loss, and the tool tells you which of those three is happening.

Your average weekly wage is the biggest lever on the result: a higher AWW raises the weekly benefit until the state maximum binds, and a lower one cuts it until the state minimum floors it. The tool also estimates Impairment Income Benefits (IIBs), but only when you enter an impairment rating. IIBs are 70% of your full AWW, capped at the separate IIBs maximum, which Texas sets at 70% of the SAWW, and they are paid for three weeks per percentage point of your rating, so a 10% rating pays for 30 weeks (Impairment income benefits, Texas DWC). With the rating left at 0, the IIBs result reads “Not estimated. Enter an impairment rating after MMI.” because a rating is assigned only after you reach maximum medical improvement. This is an estimate of the income benefit only. It is not legal advice, and your actual benefit is set by your insurance carrier and the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation from your wage statement (DWC Form 3).

Examples

If you enter an $800 average weekly wage, no post-injury earnings, and the 2025-2026 benefit year, the tool returns $560.00 a week. Your wage loss is $800, and 70% of $800 is $560, which sits between the state minimum and maximum, so no cap binds and the rate applied is 70%. This is the default case. The IIBs result reads “Not estimated. Enter an impairment rating after MMI.” because the rating is 0.

If you are back on light duty earning $300 a week, with the same $800 average weekly wage, the tool returns $350.00 a week. Your wage loss is now $800 minus $300, or $500, and 70% of $500 is $350. This is the wage-loss math competitors skip when they apply 70% to your full wage instead of the difference.

If you enter a $2,500 average weekly wage and you are off work, the tool returns $1,271.00 a week for the 2025-2026 year. Seventy percent of $2,500 is $1,750, which is above the TIBs maximum, so the benefit is capped and the status reads “capped at state maximum.” That $1,271 maximum is 100% of the 2025-2026 SAWW of $1,271.05, rounded to the nearest dollar (State average weekly wage and benefit limits, Texas DWC).

If you earned less than $10.00 an hour, enter an AWW of $360, no post-injury earnings, and answer yes to the low-wage question. The tool returns $270.00 a week at a 75% rate. Your wage loss is $360, and 75% of $360 is $270, which lands above the state minimum, so no cap binds. This is the statutory low-wage branch most calculators leave out.

If your average weekly wage is very low, say $120 with no post-injury earnings, the tool returns $191.00 a week for 2025-2026. Seventy percent of $120 is $84, which is below the state minimum, so the benefit is raised to the minimum and the status reads “raised to state minimum.” That $191 minimum is 15% of the 2025-2026 SAWW, rounded to the nearest dollar (State average weekly wage and benefit limits, Texas DWC).

If you enter a 10% impairment rating with an $800 average weekly wage for 2025-2026, the tool estimates IIBs alongside the TIBs figure. IIBs weekly are 70% of $800, or $560.00, which is below the IIBs maximum of $890. The duration is three weeks per point, so 30 weeks, and the IIBs total is $560 times 30, or $16,800.00. This is the isolated impairment path the tool shows only when you enter a rating above 0.

Texas workers’ comp income benefit terms, defined

This tool uses a handful of named items from Texas workers’ compensation law. Here is what each one means.

Average Weekly Wage (AWW)

The average of what your employer paid you in the 13 weeks before your injury, including overtime and the value of non-cash benefits like employer-paid health insurance. You add up those wages and divide by 13 (Temporary income benefits, Texas DWC). Every income benefit flows from this one number.

Temporary Income Benefits (TIBs)

The benefit you receive while you are recovering and losing wages. TIBs are 70% of the difference between your average weekly wage and what you can still earn after the injury, or 75% if you earned less than $10.00 an hour when you were hurt (Temporary income benefits, Texas DWC).

Impairment Income Benefits (IIBs)

The benefit you receive after you reach maximum medical improvement and a doctor assigns an impairment rating. IIBs are 70% of your average weekly wage, paid for three weeks per percentage point of the rating (Impairment income benefits, Texas DWC).

State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW)

The statewide wage figure Texas uses to set the annual benefit limits. The maximum weekly benefit is 100% of the SAWW, the minimum is 15% of the SAWW, and the separate impairment-benefit maximum is 70% of the SAWW (Workers’ compensation income and medical benefits, Texas DWC).

TIBs or IIBs: which income benefit applies to you

These two benefits cover different stages of the same claim, and you can move from one to the other as you recover. Knowing which one applies tells you which result on this page to read.

Temporary Income Benefits apply while you are still recovering and losing wages. They start after your injury causes you to lose at least eight days of work and continue until you reach maximum medical improvement (MMI), return to your pre-injury wage, or hit 104 weeks, whichever comes first. The rate is 70% of the difference between your average weekly wage and your post-injury earnings, or 75% if you earned less than $10.00 an hour when you were hurt (Temporary income benefits, Texas DWC).

Impairment Income Benefits apply afterward. Once you reach MMI, a doctor may assign an impairment rating, and IIBs pay 70% of your full average weekly wage for three weeks per rating point (Impairment income benefits, Texas DWC).

Read the TIBs result if you are still off work or on light duty and recovering:

• You have not yet reached maximum medical improvement.
• You are losing wages now, fully or partly.
• You want the weekly amount that replaces part of that lost pay.

Read the IIBs result once you reach MMI and have a rating:

• A doctor has assigned an impairment rating after MMI.
• You want the weekly amount and the number of weeks tied to that rating.
• You enter the rating percentage so the tool can estimate the duration and total.

This tool covers TIBs and IIBs only. It does not estimate Supplemental Income Benefits (SIBs), Lifetime Income Benefits (LIBs), or death benefits, which are separate programs.

Why the weekly maximum and minimum change every benefit year

Texas resets the maximum and minimum weekly benefits every benefit year against the State Average Weekly Wage, so the cap that applies to you depends on your date of injury (Workers’ compensation income and medical benefits, Texas DWC). The table below maps each benefit year the tool covers to its TIBs maximum, IIBs maximum, and minimum weekly benefit, so you can read off the cap for your own date of injury (State average weekly wage and benefit limits, Texas DWC).

Benefit year (effective dates)	SAWW	TIBs maximum (100% SAWW)	IIBs maximum (70% SAWW)	Minimum (15% SAWW)
2025-2026 (10/01/25 to 09/30/26)	$1,271.05	$1,271.00	$890.00	$191.00
2024-2025 (10/01/24 to 09/30/25)	$1,218.62	$1,219.00	$853.00	$183.00
2023-2024 (10/01/23 to 09/30/24)	$1,173.81	$1,174.00	$822.00	$176.00

The maximum equals 100% of the SAWW and the minimum equals 15% of the SAWW, both rounded to the nearest dollar, which is exactly the cap rule the calculator applies.

What the data says

Most people land here with the same worry: their check seems too small, and they suspect they are being shorted. The Texas system is unusual enough that the worry is fair, so here is the real math behind the number.

Texas is the only state where carrying workers’ compensation is largely optional for private employers. In 2022, about 25% of them opted out, which left roughly 17% of Texas employees with no state-system coverage at all (Texas DWC, Employer Participation in the Texas Workers’ Compensation System, 2022 Estimates). That makes Texas a special case: before you read any benefit figure, it helps to confirm your employer actually carries coverage.

The state agency itself spells out the rule that trips up most workers. Temporary Income Benefits are a share of your wage difference, not a share of your old paycheck:

“TIBs are 70% of the difference between your average weekly wage and the money you are able to earn after your work-related injury.”

Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation, in Temporary income benefits.

A Texas workers’ comp attorney puts the same rule in plainer terms and ties it to the 13-week lookback this calculator uses:

“For most workers, the temporary income benefit is calculated at 70% of the difference between your average weekly wage (AWW) for the 13 weeks prior to your injury and your actual post-injury earnings. However, if your hourly wages are less than $10 per hour, you may be entitled to 75% of your average weekly wage for the first 26 weeks of benefits.”

Michael R. De La Paz, Texas personal injury attorney with more than 26 years of experience, in Law Offices of Michael R. De La Paz.

The state data is more reassuring than the horror stories suggest. About 92% of Texas workers’ comp claims are handled without a dispute, and 83% of workers receiving Temporary Income Benefits are back at work within six months (Texas DWC, 2020 Biennial Report to the 87th Texas Legislature). The table below extends the three benefit years the tool locks into a longer history, so you can read off the maximum and minimum for an older date of injury (Texas DWC, State average weekly wage and maximum and minimum weekly benefits).

Benefit year (effective dates)	State Average Weekly Wage	Max weekly benefit	Min weekly benefit
2025-2026 (10/01/25 to 09/30/26)	$1,271.05	$1,271.00	$191.00
2024-2025 (10/01/24 to 09/30/25)	$1,218.62	$1,219.00	$183.00
2023-2024 (10/01/23 to 09/30/24)	$1,173.81	$1,174.00	$176.00
2022-2023 (10/01/22 to 09/30/23)	$1,111.55	$1,112.00	$167.00
2021-2022 (10/01/21 to 09/30/22)	$1,058.38	$1,058.00	$159.00
2020-2021 (10/01/20 to 09/30/21)	$1,006.71	$1,007.00	$151.00
2019-2020 (10/01/19 to 09/30/20)	$970.71	$971.00	$146.00
2018-2019 (10/01/18 to 09/30/19)	$937.70	$938.00	$141.00
2017-2018 (10/01/17 to 09/30/18)	$913.37	$913.00	$137.00
2015-2016 (10/01/15 to 09/30/16)	$895.08	$895.00	$134.00

A few mistakes come up again and again:

• People often assume comp pays a percentage of their full pay when they go back on light duty. It pays a percentage of the wage loss, the difference between the average weekly wage and current earnings, so a partial paycheck shrinks the comp portion and total income often drops.
• A common worry, with reason, is that the carrier set the average weekly wage too low. Many workers do not know that overtime, bonuses, per diem, and a second job can count, and that a base-rate figure drags down every future check.
• People often confuse the unpaid first-week waiting period with an outright denial, and higher earners do not realize a state maximum can pull their real replacement rate well below the 70% or 75% they were promised.

What this tool does that others don’t

• It exposes the statutory 75% low-wage branch as an explicit input and output, so a worker who earned less than $10.00 an hour at the time of injury can see the higher rate the law allows, not just the standard 70% (Texas Labor Code 408.103, Texas Public Law).
• It dates each cap to a benefit year, so the maximum and minimum you see match your date of injury rather than a single undated dollar figure (State average weekly wage and benefit limits, Texas DWC).
• It labels which cap is binding: the result tells you whether the state maximum, the state minimum, or neither is the constraint on your weekly benefit.
• It isolates Impairment Income Benefits with their own 70%-of-AWW rate and their own benefit-year cap (70% of the SAWW), separate from the temporary-benefit maximum, so the impairment estimate is not entangled with the TIBs cap (Impairment income benefits, Texas DWC).
• It models partial post-injury earnings and pays 70% of the wage-loss difference, not 70% of your full wage, so a worker back on light duty is not over-estimated (Texas Labor Code 408.103, Texas Public Law).

Limits of this estimate

This calculator performs the published Texas income-benefit math for information only. Here is what it does not do.

• It is not legal advice, does not establish your eligibility for any benefit, and cannot replace the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation, your insurance carrier, or a licensed attorney.
• It is an estimate, not your actual award. Your real benefit is set by your carrier and the DWC from your official wage statement (DWC Form 3), which may capture wages, overtime, or benefit values that differ from the average weekly wage you enter.
• The state maximum and minimum are tied to the State Average Weekly Wage and reset every benefit year (October 1 through September 30). The figure built into the year you pick may not match your date of injury if the published rates have since changed.
• It estimates only Temporary Income Benefits and, optionally, Impairment Income Benefits. It does not calculate Supplemental Income Benefits (SIBs), Lifetime Income Benefits (LIBs), death benefits, medical benefits, or any lump-sum settlement.
• It shows the gross weekly benefit before adjustments. It does not apply attorney fees, the first-week waiting-period rule, Social Security or unemployment offsets, or any tax treatment.
• It treats the post-injury earnings you enter as your fixed weekly wage loss. Real TIBs are recalculated as your earning ability changes week to week, so a partial-earnings figure here is a snapshot, not a running total.
• The state minimum applies only when your wage loss is above zero. If your post-injury earnings equal or exceed your average weekly wage, there is no compensable wage loss, the benefit is zero, and it is not raised to the minimum. How the DWC treats the minimum against a very small wage loss is decided case by case, so this is a conservative assumption.
• The 75% rate for workers who earned less than $10.00 an hour applies under the statute only to the first 26 weeks and is capped at your actual earnings for the prior year. This tool applies the 75% rate to the weekly figure you enter; it does not model the change back to 70% after 26 weeks or the prior-year earnings ceiling.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Texas workers’ comp pay per week?

While you are recovering, Temporary Income Benefits (TIBs) pay 70% of your wage loss, the difference between your average weekly wage and what you can still earn after the injury. The rate is 75% if you earned less than $10.00 an hour when you were injured. That amount is then limited to a state maximum and minimum that change each benefit year. So a worker with an $800 average weekly wage who is off work entirely and earned more than $10/hour would get about $560 a week, as long as that falls between the state minimum and maximum.

Is Texas workers’ comp 70% or 75% of my pay?

It is 70% of your wage loss by default. It rises to 75% only if you earned less than $10.00 an hour at the time of injury (for injuries on or after September 1, 2015; before that the threshold was $8.50 an hour). Either rate is applied to the difference between your average weekly wage and your post-injury earnings, then capped at the state maximum and floored at the state minimum weekly benefit.

What is the maximum weekly workers’ comp benefit in Texas?

The maximum weekly Temporary Income Benefit is set to 100% of the State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW). The Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation resets it every benefit year, which runs October 1 through September 30, so the figure that applies depends on your date of injury. Pick your benefit year in the tool to see the maximum that applies to you.

What is the minimum weekly workers’ comp benefit in Texas?

The minimum weekly benefit is 15% of the State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW), reset each benefit year. If 70% (or 75%) of your wage loss works out to less than that minimum, your benefit is raised up to the minimum. The tool tells you when the minimum is the binding amount.

How are Impairment Income Benefits (IIBs) calculated?

After you reach maximum medical improvement, a doctor may assign an impairment rating, a percentage that reflects permanent loss of function. IIBs are 70% of your average weekly wage (capped at the separate IIBs maximum, which Texas sets at 70% of the SAWW), paid for three weeks per percentage point of the rating. A 10% rating, for example, pays for 30 weeks. The tool estimates IIBs only when you enter a rating above 0.

Is this calculator legal advice?

No. It performs the published Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation income-benefit arithmetic for your information only. It does not give legal advice, does not establish your eligibility, and does not replace the Division of Workers’ Compensation, your insurance carrier, or a licensed attorney. For a binding answer, contact DWC at 800-252-7031.

Sources

• Texas Labor Code Section 408.103, Amount of Temporary Income Benefits, Texas Public Law
• Temporary income benefits, Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation
• State average weekly wage and maximum and minimum weekly benefits, Texas DWC
• Workers’ compensation income and medical benefits, Texas DWC
• Impairment income benefits, Texas DWC
• Texas Labor Code Section 408.126, Amount of Impairment Income Benefits, Texas Public Law
• DWC update: 2026 average weekly wage, Texas Mutual