Knee Workers Comp Settlement by State

How common is a knee workers comp claim?

Knee injuries accounted for 7.8% of all days-away-from-work cases in the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics survey (2024), or roughly 142,620 cases that kept a US worker out of work for at least one day. The national count across every body part is around 1.83 million DAFW cases per year, so this category is one of the larger slices.

Source: BLS SOII 2024 Table R2: Detailed industry by selected parts of body affected (Number) .

Knee Max PPD Payout by State, Ranked

Each number is the result of multiplying the state's statutory weeks for total loss of the knee by the current state maximum weekly benefit. A worker who earned less than the state cap before the injury collects two-thirds of their own average weekly wage instead, so this column is the ceiling, not the typical payout.

Each state name links straight to that state's full knee settlement breakdown with worked payout examples at three wage levels and a calculator for your specific case.

Knee medical context and impairment ratings

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.

Diagnoses and terms searchers use: meniscus tear, ACL tear, MCL tear, PCL tear, patella, meniscectomy, knee replacement, TKA, cartilage damage.

Whole-person impairment rating ranges

Ratings reference the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. Most states use the 5th or 6th edition; your state hub names the version it follows.

Surgery is the lever that drives knee settlement values

Workers often ask whether having surgery helps or hurts the settlement number. Mechanically, surgery usually raises the permanent impairment rating, which raises the PPD value of the case under any state's scheme. It also extends time spent in temporary disability, which means more weeks of TTD before MMI and a later settlement conversation.

Knee recovery and MMI timeline

Meniscus surgery recovery runs four to eight weeks for return to most jobs. ACL reconstruction takes six to nine months. Total knee replacement takes nine to twelve months for full recovery. MMI follows about three months after the worker has reached a stable functional level.

The settlement conversation almost never starts until the doctor declares maximum medical improvement (MMI). Before MMI, the carrier normally keeps paying weekly TTD and medical bills. After MMI, the case can be valued against the schedule and the impairment rating.

How a knee workers comp settlement actually gets calculated

Numbers on the chart above are statutory ceilings. The settlement you sign almost never matches the ceiling exactly. Five things move the real number:

1. Your impairment rating. A doctor's percentage rating scales the schedule down. A 25 percent rating on a 200-week scheduled body part pays 50 weeks, not 200.
2. Your average weekly wage. Workers below the state cap collect two-thirds of their own wage; workers above the cap collect the cap. High-wage workers leave money on the table because of the cap.
3. Surgery, recovery, and the final impairment rating. A successful surgery often lowers the rating after recovery. A failed surgery or one with complications raises it. The settlement amount tracks the rating at MMI.
4. Open vs closed future medical. A settlement that leaves future medical care open is worth less in cash than one that closes it out, because the carrier loses control of future cost.
5. How easy the carrier finds the claim to defend. Strong causation evidence and consistent treatment records push the settlement closer to the schedule ceiling. Gaps, prior injuries to the same body part, or disputed causation push it down.

Impairment-rating states

These states do not use a body-part schedule. A doctor assigns a whole-person impairment rating after MMI, and the state pays a statutory number of weeks per percentage point. The PPD value depends on the rating and the state's weekly cap.

• Alaska (max weekly $1,418.00): Alaska uses an impairment-rating approach. Knee cases are valued by the doctor's whole-person impairment rating multiplied by the statutory weeks per percentage point.
• California (max weekly $1,764.00): California uses an impairment-rating approach. Knee cases are valued by the doctor's whole-person impairment rating multiplied by the statutory weeks per percentage point.
• Kentucky (max weekly $1,277.99): Kentucky uses an impairment-rating approach. Knee cases are valued by the doctor's whole-person impairment rating multiplied by the statutory weeks per percentage point.
• Minnesota (max weekly $1,536.84): Minnesota uses an impairment-rating approach. Knee cases are valued by the doctor's whole-person impairment rating multiplied by the statutory weeks per percentage point.
• Montana (max weekly $1,004.00): Montana uses an impairment-rating approach. Knee cases are valued by the doctor's whole-person impairment rating multiplied by the statutory weeks per percentage point.
• Nevada (max weekly $1,364.15): Nevada uses an impairment-rating approach. Knee cases are valued by the doctor's whole-person impairment rating multiplied by the statutory weeks per percentage point.
• North Dakota (max weekly $1,535.00): North Dakota uses an impairment-rating approach. Knee cases are valued by the doctor's whole-person impairment rating multiplied by the statutory weeks per percentage point.
• Oregon (max weekly $1,943.41): Oregon uses an impairment-rating approach. Knee cases are valued by the doctor's whole-person impairment rating multiplied by the statutory weeks per percentage point.
• South Dakota (max weekly $1,067.00): South Dakota uses an impairment-rating approach. Knee cases are valued by the doctor's whole-person impairment rating multiplied by the statutory weeks per percentage point.
• Tennessee (max weekly $1,426.70): Tennessee uses an impairment-rating approach. Knee cases are valued by the doctor's whole-person impairment rating multiplied by the statutory weeks per percentage point.
• Texas (max weekly $1,271.00): Texas uses an impairment-rating approach. Knee cases are valued by the doctor's whole-person impairment rating multiplied by the statutory weeks per percentage point.
• Vermont (max weekly $1,839.00): Vermont uses an impairment-rating approach. Knee cases are valued by the doctor's whole-person impairment rating multiplied by the statutory weeks per percentage point.
• Wyoming (max weekly $974.00): Wyoming uses an impairment-rating approach. Knee cases are valued by the doctor's whole-person impairment rating multiplied by the statutory weeks per percentage point.

Wage-loss states

These states pay based on actual wage loss after the injury, not a body-part schedule. The settlement turns on the gap between pre-injury wages and post-MMI earning capacity, capped at the state's maximum weekly rate.

• District of Columbia (max weekly $1,799.31): District of Columbia pays based on actual wage loss after the injury, not a body-part schedule. Knee settlements here turn on the gap between pre-injury wages and post-MMI earning capacity.
• Florida (max weekly $1,358.00): Florida pays based on actual wage loss after the injury, not a body-part schedule. Knee settlements here turn on the gap between pre-injury wages and post-MMI earning capacity.

States that schedule other body parts but not knee

The states below maintain a body-part schedule but do not list the knee as a separately scheduled member. Cases here normally get valued under the general impairment provision of the statute, with the doctor's whole-person impairment rating driving the number of weeks of PPD payable.

• Alabama: Alabama schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Arizona: Arizona schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Colorado: Colorado schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Connecticut: Connecticut schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Delaware: Delaware schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Georgia: Georgia schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Hawaii: Hawaii schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Illinois: Illinois schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Iowa: Iowa schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Kansas: Kansas schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Louisiana: Louisiana schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Maine: Maine schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Maryland: Maryland schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Massachusetts: Massachusetts schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Michigan: Michigan schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Mississippi: Mississippi schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Nebraska: Nebraska schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• New Hampshire: New Hampshire schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• New Jersey: New Jersey schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• New York: New York schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• North Carolina: North Carolina schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Ohio: Ohio schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Oklahoma: Oklahoma schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Rhode Island: Rhode Island schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• South Carolina: South Carolina schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• Virginia: Virginia schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.
• West Virginia: West Virginia schedules other body parts but does not list knee separately. Most knee cases here are valued under the state's general impairment provision.

Common questions about knee settlements

What is a meniscus workers comp settlement worth?

A meniscectomy with a good recovery typically produces a 2 to 6 percent whole-person impairment rating, and the PPD value scales with the state's weeks per percentage point. A persistent or recurrent tear produces a higher rating. Bilateral meniscus injuries get rated for each side separately.

What is an ACL workers comp settlement worth?

An ACL reconstruction typically lands at a 5 to 12 percent whole-person impairment rating. Outcomes vary widely with the worker's age and pre-injury activity level. A combined ACL plus meniscus injury produces a higher rating than either alone.

Will my workers comp pay for a knee replacement?

Yes, if the treating doctor finds the work injury caused or aggravated the underlying joint damage and a knee replacement is the medically necessary treatment. Carriers sometimes resist this when there is prior arthritis, and a workers comp lawyer can push for authorization.

Knee settlement: taxes, timing, and what comes next

Workers comp settlements are not taxable at the federal level under IRS Publication 525 and IRC § 104(a)(1). That covers weekly checks and lump-sum settlements. State taxation follows the federal rule in every workers comp jurisdiction.

The check usually arrives two to four weeks after a judge signs the settlement. Structured settlements (where the money comes through an annuity instead of a lump sum) and cases involving Medicare set-asides take longer, often months. Outstanding medical liens from providers also slow disbursement because the attorney has to clear each lien before paying the worker.

Sources

• BLS SOII 2024 Table R2: Detailed industry by selected parts of body affected (Number)
• State statutes and workers comp board rate notices, linked from each state hub.
• AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment for whole-person impairment ranges.