The impairment rating payout in Texas works on a fixed formula: you receive 70% of your pre-injury average weekly wage, paid weekly for three weeks per percentage point of your impairment rating. For injuries occurring between October 1, 2025, and September 30, 2026, those weekly checks are capped at $890 and cannot fall below $191.1Texas Department of Insurance. State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) – Maximum and Minimum Weekly Benefits These payments are called impairment income benefits, or IIBs.
The Formula
Two numbers decide what you get. The first is your average weekly wage, which the Division of Workers’ Compensation calculates from your earnings history reported to the Texas Workforce Commission rather than from a single recent paycheck. Multiply that figure by 0.70 and you have your weekly IIB rate.2State of Texas. Texas Labor Code 408.183 – Amount of Impairment Income Benefit
The second number is your whole-body impairment rating, assigned by a doctor. Each percentage point buys three weeks of payments.3State of Texas. Texas Labor Code 408.121 – Impairment Income Benefits A 5% rating pays for 15 weeks. A 10% rating pays for 30 weeks. A 20% rating pays for 60 weeks. The duration is fixed by the rating; nothing extends it.
2026 Weekly Caps
Texas resets the maximum and minimum IIB amounts every October based on the state average weekly wage, which for the current year sits at $1,271.05. The caps that apply to your claim are the ones in effect on your date of injury.1Texas Department of Insurance. State Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) – Maximum and Minimum Weekly Benefits
- Maximum weekly IIB: $890.00
- Minimum weekly IIB: $191.00
The ceiling matters for higher earners. Anyone whose pre-injury wage was roughly $1,272 per week or more hits the cap, because 70% of that amount already exceeds $890. The floor protects workers at the low end: even if 70% of your wage would come in under $191, your check is bumped up.
Sample Payout Math
Say you earned $900 per week before the injury and a doctor assigned a 12% impairment rating. Seventy percent of $900 is $630. Twelve percent times three equals 36 weeks. Your total payout is $630 × 36, or $22,680.
Now change one input. A worker earning $1,500 per week with the same 12% rating would, on paper, draw $1,050 per week. The 2026 cap holds the check to $890, so 36 weeks of payments total $32,040 instead of $37,800. The cap costs that worker more than $5,000, and the loss grows with higher wages and higher ratings.
When the Checks Start and Stop
Your right to IIBs begins the day after you reach maximum medical improvement, the point at which your doctor concludes further treatment will not meaningfully improve your condition. The insurance carrier then has up to five days from receiving the MMI report to start issuing payments.3State of Texas. Texas Labor Code 408.121 – Impairment Income Benefits
Payments arrive weekly for the number of weeks your rating earned, and then they end. A 7% rating pays for 21 weeks, no more. There is no renewal and no discretion. If you die before the period runs out, payments stop on the date of death.3State of Texas. Texas Labor Code 408.121 – Impairment Income Benefits
Taking a Lump Sum Instead
Texas lets you convert the remaining weekly checks into one lump sum through a process called commutation, but the gate is narrow. You must have returned to work for at least three months and be earning at least 80% of your pre-injury average weekly wage.4State of Texas. Texas Labor Code 408.128 – Commutation of Impairment Income Benefits
The cost is permanent. If you commute, you give up any right to supplemental income benefits from the same injury. For a worker with a serious impairment, those future benefits can be worth far more than the lump sum. Commutation suits someone who is firmly back on the job and wants cash now; it is a bad trade if your condition could deteriorate or your work situation is shaky.
How the Rating Itself Gets Set
Because the payout depends entirely on the percentage, the rating process deserves attention. A doctor files a Report of Medical Evaluation (DWC Form-069) that records your MMI date and assigns a whole-body impairment percentage.5Texas Department of Insurance. Report of Medical Evaluation – DWC Form-069
Texas requires the doctor to use the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, Fourth Edition.6Texas Department of Insurance. Snapshot – 2026 AMA Guides Study Most other states have moved to newer editions, and the editions can produce different numbers for the same injury, so a rating done under the wrong edition will be thrown out.
Check the form before it reaches the carrier. The most frequent error is a rating written as an extremity-only percentage rather than a whole-body percentage. IIBs run on the whole-body figure. A missing MMI date or missing signature will also hold up payment.
Disputing the Rating
If you think the rating is wrong, you can request a designated doctor examination by filing DWC Form-032 with the Division. The carrier can request one too. You list what is in dispute on the form, usually the impairment percentage, the MMI date, or both.7Texas Department of Insurance. Request for Designated Doctor Examination – DWC Form-032
The state assigns an independent physician who has not treated you. That doctor’s findings carry presumptive weight, which means the Division treats them as correct unless the opposing side produces a preponderance of evidence to the contrary.8Legal Information Institute. 28 Texas Administrative Code 127.10 – General Procedures for Designated Doctor Examinations Most disputes end here. While the fight is pending, the carrier still has to pay IIBs based on its own reasonable view of the correct rating.3State of Texas. Texas Labor Code 408.121 – Impairment Income Benefits A higher final rating means the carrier owes the difference.
What Comes After IIBs End
Weekly checks stop when your IIB period runs out, but workers with more serious injuries may qualify for supplemental income benefits (SIBs). All four of these conditions have to be met:9State of Texas. Texas Labor Code 408.142 – Supplemental Income Benefits
- An impairment rating of 15% or higher from the compensable injury
- Current earnings below 80% of your pre-injury average weekly wage because of the impairment
- You did not commute your IIBs into a lump sum
- You have met the DWC’s job search documentation requirements
The 15% threshold is absolute. A 14% rating produces no SIBs eligibility, no matter how badly your earnings have dropped. SIBs are not automatic either; you have to reapply every quarter. And if you are earning enough when your IIBs expire but your income later falls below 80% of your pre-injury wage due to the impairment, you can still become eligible within one year.9State of Texas. Texas Labor Code 408.142 – Supplemental Income Benefits