Workers' Comp Settlement Chart: How Payouts by Body Part Actually Work

How a comp settlement is actually computed

The chart: what drives value, body part by body part

These fifteen categories are the same ones our workers’ comp calculator uses. For each: what typically drives the rating, and where a deeper guide exists. Actual dollar output = your state’s rate × weeks × rating — which is why this chart maps logic, not dollars.

• Head / brain

  Concussion and TBI claims rate on cognitive residuals — memory, processing, headaches — usually documented through neuropsychological testing. See our concussion settlement guide for the medical-record playbook.

• Eyes

  Vision loss is a scheduled loss in most states — a fixed number of weeks for an eye — with partial vision loss prorated. Monocular workers rate high because the remaining eye carries everything.

• Ears / hearing

  Occupational hearing loss uses audiogram-based formulas, and many states run a separate occupational-disease clock from the last injurious exposure. Tinnitus adds rating points in some schedules.

• Neck (cervical spine)

  Whiplash-pattern strains through disc herniations. Spine ratings are whole-person (unscheduled) in most states — smaller percentages, bigger week pools. Our whiplash and herniated disc guides cover the medical side.

• Shoulder

  Rotator cuff tears and labrum injuries — the classic overhead-work claim. Range-of-motion measurements drive the rating, and surgical repairs rate higher than conservative care.

• Arm / elbow

  Scheduled member in nearly every state. Fractures, epicondylitis, and nerve entrapment rate on motion loss and grip-strength deficits.

• Hand / wrist / fingers

  The most schedule-driven category: states assign specific weeks per digit and for the hand. Carpal tunnel (repetitive stress) is compensable but rating-contested; function loss for manual trades supports higher permanent awards.

• Back (lumbar spine)

  The most common comp claim in the system. Whole-person ratings under the AMA Guides; disc herniations with radiculopathy and fusion surgeries anchor the high end. See the herniated disc guide.

• Hip / pelvis

  Falls and heavy-labor degeneration claims; replacements rate substantially. Aggravation of pre-existing arthritis is compensable in most states — apportionment fights are standard.

• Leg / knee

  Meniscus and ligament tears from twisting, kneeling, and falls. Scheduled member; surgical history and post-repair instability drive the rating. Fracture patterns are covered in our broken bones guide.

• Foot / ankle / toes

  Calcaneus (heel) fractures from ladder falls are the signature serious claim here — slow healing, standing-work career impact. Scheduled weeks with proration for partial loss.

• Internal organs

  Hernias, organ damage from trauma, heat illness. Often unscheduled whole-person ratings; hernia claims carry special notice rules in several states.

• Skin

  Burns, chemical exposure, and severe dermatitis. Rating follows disfigurement schedules plus function loss; many states add separate disfigurement awards for visible scarring.

• Respiratory

  Occupational asthma, dust and fume disease. Pulmonary-function testing drives ratings; occupational-disease statutes of limitation run from diagnosis or last exposure, not first symptoms.

• Multiple body parts

  Combined ratings do not simply add — the AMA combined-values method discounts each additional part. Serious multi-part injuries push toward permanent total disability instead, a different benefit entirely.

Scheduled vs. unscheduled: why identical injuries settle differently

Most states split injuries into two systems, and which system your body part falls under explains most of the “same injury, different settlement” confusion.

The lump-sum trap: what a full settlement really closes

A Compromise and Release trades everything — including lifetime medical care for the injury — for one payment. For a healed fracture, that trade can be clean. For a spine, a shoulder headed toward re-tear, or anything with hardware, future medical is routinely the most valuable thing on the table, and its projected cost belongs in the settlement number explicitly.

Before you settle: the six-step sequence

1. 1

   Reach MMI first

   Settling before maximum medical improvement means pricing an injury whose final severity nobody knows. Insurers offer early for exactly that reason.

2. 2

   Get the rating — and question it

   Ask which AMA Guides edition your state uses, what percentage was assigned, and to what body part. If it feels low, most states fund or allow a second-opinion rating. This number multiplies everything.

3. 3

   Project future medical in writing

   Ask the treating physician what care the injury will need over 5, 10, 20 years. That projection is the core of a fair full-and-final number.

4. 4

   Audit the back benefits

   Unpaid TTD weeks, mileage to appointments, out-of-pocket prescriptions — disputed past benefits belong in the settlement on top of the PPD math, not blended into it.

5. 5

   Check the offset interactions

   SSDI offsets, Medicare Set-Asides, and unemployment interactions can change the real value of a structure. Cheap advice here prevents expensive surprises.

6. 6

   Run your own number first

   Our workers’ comp calculator applies your wage, state rates, body part, and rating band in about two minutes — a written frame to hold any offer against.