Wrist and Hand Workers Comp Settlement by State

How common is a wrist and hand workers comp claim?

Wrist and Hand injuries accounted for 16.1% of all days-away-from-work cases in the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics survey (2024), or roughly 295,920 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) .

Wrist and Hand Max PPD Payout by State, Ranked

Each number is the result of multiplying the state's statutory weeks for total loss of the wrist and hand 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 wrist and hand settlement breakdown with worked payout examples at three wage levels and a calculator for your specific case.

Wrist and Hand medical context and impairment ratings

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.

Diagnoses and terms searchers use: wrist fracture, scaphoid, TFCC tear, hand fracture, thumb injury, finger amputation, tendon laceration, trigger finger.

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 wrist and hand 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.

Wrist and Hand recovery and MMI timeline

Wrist fractures fixed with ORIF typically reach MMI six to nine months after surgery once hand therapy is complete. Finger injuries with successful tendon repairs reach MMI three to six months out. Persistent grip-strength deficits or range-of-motion limits at MMI drive the impairment rating up.

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 wrist and hand 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. Wrist and Hand 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. Wrist and Hand 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. Wrist and Hand 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. Wrist and Hand 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. Wrist and Hand 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. Wrist and Hand 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. Wrist and Hand 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. Wrist and Hand 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. Wrist and Hand 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. Wrist and Hand 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. Wrist and Hand 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. Wrist and Hand 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. Wrist and Hand 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. Wrist and Hand 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. Wrist and Hand settlements here turn on the gap between pre-injury wages and post-MMI earning capacity.

Common questions about wrist and hand settlements

What is a hand injury workers comp settlement worth?

Hand injury settlements depend heavily on the specific structure injured and the residual deficit. A clean wrist fracture with no residual stiffness produces a low single-digit rating; a crush injury with permanent grip-strength loss produces a much higher one. The state schedule then drives the weeks payable.

Does workers comp pay for a finger amputation?

Yes. Every state's schedule lists scheduled weeks for the loss of each finger, with the thumb usually carrying the highest value. Loss of a phalange (one segment of a finger) is generally paid at half the full-finger value.

What is a wrist fracture workers comp settlement worth?

A wrist fracture treated successfully with ORIF typically lands at a 3 to 8 percent whole-person impairment rating, and the PPD value scales with the state's formula. Persistent stiffness or weakness raises the rating. Bilateral cases are rated separately.

Wrist and Hand 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.