Washington Workers’ Compensation Calculator 2026
Estimate an initial monthly time-loss rate using the accepted claim wage, family status, and the exact 2026 injury-date period.
Estimate monthly time-loss compensation
Washington uses a family-status percentage
Time-loss compensation generally replaces 60% to 75% of the monthly wage established for the claim. The percentage depends on marital or registered-domestic-partner status and dependent children at the time of injury. For injuries from July 1, 2026, the Legislature changed the family scale; this calculator selects the correct schedule by date.
The result is monthly because Washington establishes the rate on a monthly basis and normally issues payments twice monthly. The displayed daily estimate divides the monthly amount by 30.
The minimum has a low-wage exception
For 2026 injuries, the ordinary minimum is 15% of the applicable state average monthly wage, plus $10 for an eligible spouse or registered domestic partner and $10 for each eligible child within the statutory cap. If that sum exceeds the worker’s gross monthly wage, RCW 51.32.090 instead uses the greater of the actual monthly wage or the family-status minimum that was in effect before July 2, 2008.
The calculator implements both routes from L&I’s official minimum-rate chart. Actual dependent eligibility and the wage established under RCW 51.08.178 remain agency determinations.
What this estimate does not calculate
It does not calculate annual COLA adjustments for older claims, loss-of-earning-power benefits after partial return to work, wage averaging, health-care value, tips, bonuses, concurrent employment, offsets, pension benefits, or the number of payable days. L&I or a self-insured employer must accept the claim and receive medical certification that the worker cannot perform the job.
Why are there two 2026 schedules?
Washington’s state average wage changes each July 1, and chapter 168, Laws of 2025 changed the family-percentage schedule for claims with injury or manifestation dates on or after July 1, 2026.
Does every worker receive at least 15% of the state average wage?
No. When that ordinary minimum exceeds the worker’s monthly wage, the special low-wage comparison in RCW 51.32.090 applies.
Can I use weekly wages?
Convert only if the claim’s accepted monthly wage is known. Washington’s legal wage calculation can include components that a simple weekly-times-52 conversion misses.
Official sources
- Washington L&I: wage replacement.
- L&I minimum time-loss rates.
- L&I maximum time-loss rates.
- RCW 51.32.090.
Reviewed: August 31, 2026.