How Much Do Ohio Workers’ Comp Benefits Pay? TTD, PPD, and Wage Loss

For injuries in 2026, Ohio workers’ comp pays 72% of your full weekly wage for the first 12 weeks of total disability, then drops to 66⅔% of your average weekly wage after that. Payments are capped at the statewide average weekly wage of $1,281 per week and floored at $427 per week for temporary total disability claims.¹ Different formulas apply if you return to work at reduced pay, keep a permanent impairment, or die from a workplace injury. The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation runs the program under a no-fault model, so the amount you receive does not depend on who caused the injury.²

The Two Wage Figures Your Check Is Built On

Ohio Revised Code 4123.61 defines two wage numbers, and every benefit calculation uses one or the other. Your Full Weekly Wage (FWW) reflects your earnings at the time of the injury. Your Average Weekly Wage (AWW) is your earnings averaged over the full year before the injury, with periods of illness, strikes, lockouts, or other circumstances beyond your control removed so those gaps do not pull the average down.³

The FWW is used only for the first 12 weeks of temporary total disability. Everything else, including permanent disability, wage loss, and death benefits, runs off the AWW.³

The First Week Is Unpaid Unless You Miss Two

Ohio does not pay lost-wage benefits for the first seven days you are off work. If your disability stretches to two continuous weeks or longer, the BWC pays that first week retroactively.⁴ A short absence of a few days produces no lost-wage check at all.

Temporary Total Disability Payments

Temporary Total Disability (TTD) benefits under Ohio Revised Code 4123.56 cover the period when your injury keeps you completely out of work.

First 12 Weeks: 72% of Full Weekly Wage

For the first 12 weeks, you receive 72% of your Full Weekly Wage. That payment is capped at the lower of the statewide average weekly wage ($1,281 for 2026 injuries) or 100% of your net take-home pay, so the initial rate cannot exceed what you were actually bringing home.⁵

Week 13 and Beyond: 66⅔% of Average Weekly Wage

Starting in week 13, the payment shifts to 66⅔% of your Average Weekly Wage. The maximum is still $1,281 for 2026 injuries, and the minimum is $427 (33⅓% of the SAWW). If your AWW was below $427, you receive your full wages instead of the minimum.⁵¹

TTD payments continue until you can return to work, your treating physician certifies you can return, suitable work is offered, or you reach maximum medical improvement. After 200 weeks of TTD, the BWC may order an examination to review your condition.⁵

Wage Loss When You Return at Reduced Pay

If you can work but earn less than before because of reduced hours or lighter-duty work, Ohio Revised Code 4123.56(B) provides wage loss benefits. The BWC splits these into Working Wage Loss (you have a lower-paying job) and Non-Working Wage Loss (you are searching for work within your restrictions).

The payment is 66⅔% of the difference between your pre-injury AWW and your current weekly earnings. If your AWW was $1,200 and you now earn $600, the $600 gap produces a $400 weekly benefit. You have to keep proof of your current earnings and, if applicable, your job-search efforts.

Permanent Partial Disability and Body-Part Losses

Ohio Revised Code 4123.57 sets two separate ways to pay for a lasting impairment.

Percentage of Permanent Partial Disability

For impairments that don’t involve losing a specific body part, you file a C-92 application. A medical examiner assigns an impairment percentage, and the BWC pays 66⅔% of your AWW for a number of weeks tied to that percentage.⁶

Scheduled Loss Amounts

When you lose a specific body part or lose all use of it, Ohio pays a fixed number of weeks at the full SAWW, which is $1,281 per week for 2026 injuries. The schedule includes:⁶

Thumb: 60 weeks ($76,860 at the 2026 SAWW)
Index finger: 35 weeks
Third finger: 30 weeks
Fourth finger: 20 weeks
Little finger: 15 weeks
Hand: 175 weeks
Arm: 225 weeks
Great toe: 30 weeks
Foot: 150 weeks
Leg: 200 weeks

A partial loss pays a proportional share. Losing the tip (distal phalange) of a finger counts as one-third of that finger’s scheduled weeks. Total compensation for multiple finger losses on one hand cannot exceed the value of a full hand.⁶

Death and Survivor Benefits

If a work injury or occupational disease causes death, Ohio Revised Code 4123.59 pays wholly dependent survivors 66⅔% of the deceased worker’s AWW, capped at the SAWW ($1,281 for 2026). The minimum survivor benefit is 50% of the SAWW, or $640.50 per week for 2026 deaths.⁷

A surviving spouse is paid until death or remarriage. On remarriage, the BWC pays a lump sum of two years of benefits and then stops weekly payments. Dependent children receive benefits until age 18, or age 25 if enrolled full-time in an accredited educational program. A dependent unable to earn a living because of mental or physical incapacity continues to receive benefits for as long as the incapacity lasts.⁷

The BWC also covers reasonable funeral expenses up to $7,500.⁸

Medical Treatment Is Paid Separately

Medical care for allowed conditions is paid on top of your lost-wage benefits. Under Ohio Revised Code 4123.66, the BWC covers medical services, nursing care, hospital stays, and medication it deems appropriate for the injury or occupational disease.⁸ There is no fixed dollar cap on total medical treatment during the life of a claim, but each service has to be approved as reasonable and necessary.

How Social Security Disability Can Reduce Your Total

If you draw both Ohio workers’ compensation and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), federal law limits the combined amount. The Social Security Administration reduces your SSDI so that the two payments together do not exceed 80% of your “average current earnings,” generally your highest earnings in a recent five-year period.⁹

Say your average current earnings were $5,000 per month, putting the 80% cap at $4,000. If workers’ comp pays $2,500 and SSDI would pay $2,000, the combined $4,500 exceeds the cap by $500, and Social Security reduces the SSDI check by that $500. The offset always comes from the SSDI side; Ohio workers’ compensation is never reduced.

Federal Tax Treatment

Ohio workers’ compensation payments are exempt from federal income tax, income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes, and federal unemployment (FUTA) tax.¹⁰ You do not report the benefits on your federal return, so the weekly amount you see is what you keep.

Which Year’s Caps Apply to You

The SAWW is recalculated each year, and Ohio Revised Code 4123.62 locks your benefit caps to the SAWW in effect during the calendar year of the injury, not the year your payments start.¹¹ A 2026 injury runs on the $1,281 maximum and $427 minimum for the life of that claim, even if benefits continue into later years with a higher SAWW.

1
Ohio.gov. Compensation Rates 2011 to 2026
2
Ohio.gov. Workers’ Compensation Bureau
3
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 4123.61 – Basis for Computation of Benefits
4
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 4123.55
5
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 4123.56 – Temporary Disability Compensation
6
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 4123.57 – Partial Disability Compensation
7
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 4123.59 – Benefits in Case of Death – Dependency
8
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 4123.66 – Disbursements for Medical, Nurse and Hospital Services
9
Social Security Administration. 20 CFR 404.408 – Reduction of Benefits Based on Disability
10
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide
11
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 4123.62 – Consideration of Expected Wage Increases