Workers Comp Settlement by Body Part
The body part that was injured at work decides which row of the state schedule applies, which surgery is on the table, which impairment-rating table the doctor uses, and how much the case is worth. Each hub ranks every state by the maximum permanent partial disability payout for a total loss, walks the surgery context, lists the AMA Guides impairment-rating ranges, and links to the per-state breakdown that does the math at your wage.
Pick a Body Part
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Back and Spine
Back injuries are the single most common workers comp claim in the United States. They are also the hardest to value because the rating range is wide and depends heavily on whether surgery was needed and how well the recovery went. The carrier and the worker often disagree on the rating, and that disagreement is where most back-injury workers comp lawyers earn their fee.
- Schedule states
- 2
- Top max PPD
- $641,784 in Connecticut
- BLS share of DAFW
- 13.5%
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Shoulder
Shoulder injuries are the second most common cause of lost-time claims in heavy-labor occupations. The rotator cuff is the most-injured shoulder structure, and rotator cuff repairs are the most common shoulder surgery in workers comp. A SLAP tear or labral tear often comes with the rotator cuff injury, and the surgeon repairs both in one operation. The combined rating is what drives the PPD value.
- Schedule states
- 6
- Top max PPD
- $909,600 in Iowa
- BLS share of DAFW
- 6.5%
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Knee
Knee injuries account for roughly 8 percent of all days-away-from-work cases in the United States. Most workers comp knee claims involve a meniscus tear, with or without an ACL tear, often from a twisting injury on uneven ground or a slip on a wet floor. The settlement value depends on whether surgery happened, whether the joint remains painful at MMI, and whether the worker can return to their pre-injury job.
- Schedule states
- 7
- Top max PPD
- $687,500 in Wisconsin
- BLS share of DAFW
- 7.8%
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Neck
Cervical fusion is the most common surgery driving high-value neck-injury workers comp settlements. The C5-C6 and C6-C7 levels see the most pathology in working-age adults because they bear most of the rotational stress of head movement. A two-level ACDF, even when successful, leaves a permanent functional deficit that scales the PPD award substantially higher than a one-level case.
- BLS share of DAFW
- 1.1%
-
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal tunnel syndrome is the most common upper-extremity repetitive-strain injury in workers comp. Causation is the legal battle: carriers often argue the worker had pre-existing CTS or the cause was non-occupational, and the EMG and nerve conduction findings are the medical evidence the case turns on. Bilateral cases (both wrists) are rated separately, so the combined PPD value is roughly double the single-side value.
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Wrist and Hand
Hand and wrist injuries make up the largest single category of upper-extremity workers comp claims because manual workers use them constantly. The state schedule values fingers individually (thumb usually the most), and most states pay separately for the loss of a phalange. Surgical hand cases are rated using the AMA Guides upper-extremity tables, which combine range-of-motion, grip strength, and sensory deficit into a hand-level impairment percentage, then convert to whole-person.
- Schedule states
- 35
- Top max PPD
- $466,990 in Pennsylvania
- BLS share of DAFW
- 16.1%
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Foot and Ankle
Foot and ankle injuries make up roughly 10 percent of US workers comp days-away-from-work claims. Lisfranc injuries and calcaneus fractures are notoriously underdiagnosed at the emergency room and surface as permanent issues months later when the worker is still in pain. A delayed diagnosis can make causation harder to prove if it was not documented at the time of injury.
- Schedule states
- 35
- Top max PPD
- $384,250 in Maryland
- BLS share of DAFW
- 10.8%
-
Hearing Loss
Occupational hearing loss is one of the most under-claimed injuries in US workers comp. OSHA requires hearing conservation programs in workplaces with noise above 85 dBA, but workers who developed hearing loss over decades often never file because the loss is gradual. Most states use audiogram-confirmed percentage loss in each ear, scaled against the schedule for total hearing loss in that ear.
- Schedule states
- 1
- Top max PPD
- $106,756 in Illinois
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Back Surgery
Spinal fusion is the surgery that drives most high-value back and neck workers comp settlements. Carriers scrutinize fusion authorizations because of the cost, and lawyers often have to litigate to get a recommended fusion approved. After surgery, the impairment rating is the lever everything turns on. A successful one-level lumbar fusion typically lands in the mid-teens; a two-level fusion or a failed surgery lands considerably higher.
- Schedule states
- 1
- Top max PPD
- $641,784 in Connecticut
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Stress and Mental Injury
Mental injury workers comp claims face the strictest causation standards in the system. Most states require the work stress to be unusual or extraordinary, not normal job pressure. California is one of the more accommodating jurisdictions for mental-mental claims (psychological injury caused by psychological stress alone). Physical-mental claims (psychological injury secondary to a physical work injury) are generally easier to win because the physical injury is the proximate cause.
Schedule vs Impairment vs Wage Loss
US workers compensation systems split into three approaches to permanent partial disability. Which approach your state uses determines whether the body-part schedule on each hub applies directly, or whether the value comes from a whole-person impairment rating or an actual wage-loss calculation.
| Approach | How PPD is valued | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Schedule | The legislature sets a fixed number of weeks per body part. The doctor's impairment rating scales those weeks down. Multiply by the weekly cap to get the ceiling. | Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas |
| Impairment rating | No body-part schedule. The doctor assigns a whole-person impairment percentage. The state pays a statutory number of weeks per percentage point. | California, Oregon, Washington |
| Wage loss | PPD pays based on actual earnings lost after MMI. The body part matters only because it caused the wage loss. | Michigan, Pennsylvania (some categories), New Jersey (in part) |
Most schedule states have a backstop impairment-rating provision for injuries that are not separately scheduled. The state hub names which provision and which AMA Guides edition.
Body Parts by BLS Prevalence
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses ranks injuries by how often they kept a worker out of work for at least one day. Back, neck, and shoulder injuries dominate; mental-injury and hearing-loss claims are common but underreported because they often resolve without lost workdays.
| Body part | Share of DAFW cases | Cases per year | BLS year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wrist and Hand | 16.1% | 295,920 | 2024 |
| Back and Spine | 13.5% | 248,180 | 2024 |
| Foot and Ankle | 10.8% | 198,530 | 2024 |
| Knee | 7.8% | 142,620 | 2024 |
| Shoulder | 6.5% | 119,830 | 2024 |
| Neck | 1.1% | 20,570 | 2024 |
Source: BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses, Table R2 (Detailed industry by selected parts of body affected). Each body-part hub cites the figure with its source URL.
How the Impairment Rating Sets the Value
Whichever approach the state uses, the lever that turns is the permanent impairment rating the doctor assigns at maximum medical improvement. Three things move the rating:
- Diagnosis. A simple sprain rates near zero. A surgical repair with measurable range-of-motion loss rates higher. A fusion or total joint replacement rates higher still.
- Recovery. A clean recovery with full strength and motion lowers the rating. Persistent grip-strength loss, residual nerve symptoms, or chronic pain that limits function raises it.
- Whether both sides assigned the same rating. If the carrier's doctor came in low and the worker's doctor came in high, the case usually settles on a number between the two. The bigger the spread, the more leverage on settlement.
Each body-part hub on this site includes an AMA Guides impairment-rating range table that shows what's typical for the common scenarios for that body part. The state x body-part page then runs the math at the current state cap.
How to use a body-part hub
- Pick the body part that was injured.
- On the hub, find your state in the ranked chart to see the maximum PPD payout at the state's current weekly cap.
- Click the state name to open the per-state breakdown for that body part: worked examples at three wage levels, surgery context, recovery timeline, and how the state compares.
- If your state is in the impairment-rating or wage-loss list instead, the page explains which formula applies and what numbers to plug in.
Common Questions
- Why does the same injury pay different settlement amounts in different states?
- Workers compensation is a state-level law. Each state legislature assigned its own number of weeks to each scheduled body part and set its own weekly maximum benefit. Texas, for example, schedules far fewer weeks than New York for the same injury. Multiply weeks by the state cap and the ceiling differs by tens of thousands of dollars for an identical loss.
- Do all 51 jurisdictions use a body-part schedule?
- No. Roughly 35 states plus DC use a scheduled approach. The rest pay based on whole-person impairment rating or actual wage loss after MMI. Each body-part hub lists which states fall into which group.
- How does an impairment rating connect to the body part?
- After maximum medical improvement, a doctor assigns a permanent impairment rating using the AMA Guides. Schedule states multiply the rating percentage by the body-part's full weeks; impairment-rating states multiply the rating by a statutory weeks-per-percentage-point figure. Either way, the rating scales the schedule down.
- What if my injury is not on any state's schedule?
- Injuries that the schedule does not cover (psychiatric injuries, internal organs, complex back injuries that affect multiple regions) get valued under the state's general impairment provision instead. The doctor's whole-person rating drives the number of weeks payable.