There is no official workers’ comp settlement chart in Texas. The state does not assign a fixed dollar value to a back injury or a lost finger; instead, your payout is calculated from three things: your average weekly wage before the injury, the permanent impairment rating a doctor assigns after you recover, and which of the four income-benefit categories you qualify for. The Division of Workers’ Compensation publishes new maximum and minimum weekly rates each October, and the formulas themselves are fixed by statute, so you can estimate your own number without a lookup table.
Why Texas Doesn’t Use a Settlement Chart
Most states let injured workers and insurers negotiate a lump-sum settlement, and charts in those states reflect what claims have historically settled for. Texas works differently. For injuries occurring on or after January 1, 1991, traditional lump-sum settlements are generally prohibited.1Social Security Administration. DI 52120.240 Texas Workers’ Compensation Benefits are paid out weekly under statutory formulas, and the only settlements the law permits are narrow “benefit dispute settlements” that require Commissioner approval. Because the formulas control, the number you can expect is the number the math produces.
The Three Numbers That Decide Your Payout
Your Average Weekly Wage
Everything starts here. Your average weekly wage is typically your earnings over the 13 weeks before the injury, divided by 13.2Texas Legislature. Average Weekly Wage Calculation Handout It includes overtime, bonuses, and non-cash items like employer-paid health insurance premiums that stopped after the injury.3Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation. Workers’ Compensation Benefits
Your Impairment Rating
Once your doctor says you’ve reached maximum medical improvement, a physician assigns a whole-person impairment rating as a percentage, using the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, 4th Edition — the standard for certifying exams conducted on or after October 15, 2001.4TexasWorker.com. Appeals Panel Decision Manual, Impairment Ratings The rating is based on objective clinical findings: range of motion, strength, neurological function, and structural damage.5Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation. Impairment Income Benefits
Ratings can come from your treating doctor, a designated doctor appointed by the DWC, or an insurance company doctor. The designated doctor’s rating carries presumptive weight and controls unless the preponderance of medical evidence says otherwise.6MLF Legal. Impairment Ratings for Shoulder Injuries in Texas Workers’ Compensation Claims As a rough guide, 1–5% is considered mild, 6–10% moderate, 11–20% significant, and anything above 21% severe.7MLF Legal. Understanding Impairment Ratings in Texas Workers’ Comp A post-surgical rotator cuff repair commonly rates 7–15%; a shoulder replacement runs 20–30%. If you disagree with your rating, you typically have 90 days to dispute it through the DWC.
Which Benefit Type Applies
Texas pays four kinds of income benefits, and most seriously injured workers move through them in sequence. Each has its own formula.
The Four Income Benefit Formulas
Temporary Income Benefits (TIBs)
TIBs replace lost wages while you’re recovering. The standard rate is 70% of the difference between your pre-injury average weekly wage and whatever you earn after the injury. If you were earning less than $8.50 per hour before the injury, the rate goes up to 75% for the first 26 weeks.8Texas Legislature. Temporary Income Benefits Handout Nothing is paid for the first seven days of disability unless the disability lasts at least 14 days. TIBs stop when you reach maximum medical improvement, return to work at your pre-injury wages, or hit the 104-week cap, whichever comes first.
Impairment Income Benefits (IIBs)
IIBs begin once your doctor certifies maximum medical improvement and assigns the impairment rating. The formula: three weeks of benefits for every one percentage point of impairment.9Justia. Texas Labor Code Section 408.121 A 10% rating pays 30 weeks; a 20% rating pays 60 weeks. The weekly amount is 70% of your average weekly wage, subject to the annual cap.5Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation. Impairment Income Benefits You can keep earning wages while collecting IIBs, because these benefits compensate for permanent bodily damage rather than lost income.10Texas Legislature. Impairment Income Benefits Handout
Supplemental Income Benefits (SIBs)
Once IIBs run out, you may qualify for SIBs if your impairment rating is 15% or higher and you haven’t returned to work or are earning less than 80% of your pre-injury wages.11Texas Legislature. Supplemental Income Benefits Handout The monthly benefit is 80% of the difference between 80% of your average weekly wage and your current weekly earnings, multiplied by 4.34821 to convert to a monthly figure.12Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation. Supplemental Income Benefits A worker with a $500 average weekly wage earning nothing after the injury would get roughly $1,391 per month; the same worker earning $200 per week post-injury would get about $696 per month.13WorkersComp.com. Supplemental Income Benefits in Texas Workers’ Compensation You reapply every three months, must document active job-search efforts, and cannot collect SIBs beyond 401 weeks from the date of injury.
Lifetime Income Benefits (LIBs)
LIBs are reserved for catastrophic injuries and paid until death. Qualifying conditions include total loss of sight in both eyes, loss of both hands or both feet, spinal injuries causing permanent paralysis of two limbs, traumatic brain injuries resulting in a permanent major neurocognitive disorder, and third-degree burns covering at least 40% of the body requiring grafting.14Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation. Lifetime Income Benefits The weekly benefit is 75% of your average weekly wage with a 3% annual increase. Under HB 2468, effective September 1, 2023, first responders who sustain a serious bodily injury rendering them permanently unemployable also qualify, even if the injury doesn’t fit the traditional categories.15Texas Legislature. HB 2468 Analysis
Weekly Maximums and Minimums for 2025–2026
Caps change every October 1 based on the state average weekly wage, which for injuries occurring between October 1, 2025, and September 30, 2026, is $1,271.05. The rate that applies to your claim is set by the date of injury, not the date you’re paid.16Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation. Maximum and Minimum Weekly Income Benefit Rates
- TIBs: maximum $1,271 per week, minimum $191 per week.
- IIBs: maximum $890 per week, minimum $191 per week.
- SIBs: maximum $890 per week, no set minimum.
- LIBs: maximum $1,271 per week in the first year, minimum $191 per week.
- Death benefits: maximum $1,271 per week, no set minimum.
Historical rates going back to 1991 are posted on the DWC’s benefit-rate page.17Texas Mutual Insurance Company. DWC Update Average Weekly Wage
Estimating Your Own Number
Two examples using the IIB formula show how the pieces fit together.
A warehouse worker earning $800 per week with a 10% impairment rating after a back injury would receive 70% of $800, or $560 per week, for 30 weeks (10 × 3). That’s $16,800 in impairment benefits alone, before any TIBs collected during recovery or SIBs that might follow.
A higher-earning office worker making $1,500 per week with a 5% impairment rating would calculate 70% of $1,500 as $1,050, but the 2025–2026 IIB maximum of $890 caps the weekly payment.16Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation. Maximum and Minimum Weekly Income Benefit Rates Over 15 weeks (5 × 3), total IIBs would be $13,350.
Full claim value adds whatever TIBs you drew during recovery, any SIBs you qualify for afterward, and all medical treatment, which in Texas cannot be capped or settled away.
What a Texas Settlement Actually Looks Like
The only settlement Texas allows for post-1991 injuries is a “benefit dispute settlement” under Texas Labor Code §408.005, filed on DWC Form-025 and approved by the Commissioner of Workers’ Compensation.18Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation. Settlement Guidance Four rules shape what’s possible:
- You must have reached maximum medical improvement and received a valid impairment rating before any settlement can be reached.
- Medical benefits cannot be settled. A settlement can resolve income-benefit disputes but cannot limit or end your right to ongoing medical treatment for the work injury.
- The Commissioner must find the settlement in your best interest. Rejected settlements are not reconsidered; the parties must submit a completely new agreement.
- The paperwork must explain the expected income benefits you would have received, any Social Security disability offsets, and other financial support.
Commuting IIBs Into a Lump Sum
Although lump-sum settlements are largely banned, impairment income benefits can be “commuted” into an upfront payment. The trade-off is permanent: a worker who commutes IIBs becomes ineligible for supplemental income benefits.1Social Security Administration. DI 52120.240 Texas Workers’ Compensation Present value is calculated with a discount rate the DWC resets each quarter; for the second quarter of 2026, it’s 7.14%.19Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation. Discount and Interest Rate The DWC publishes an Excel calculator and present-value tables for the math.
Hardship Advances
In limited cases the Commissioner can grant an advance against income benefits for financial hardship. Advances are capped at four times the maximum weekly TIBs rate, and no more than three advances are allowed per worker per injury.1Social Security Administration. DI 52120.240 Texas Workers’ Compensation
Medical Treatment Is Separate
Medical benefits cover all reasonable and necessary treatment for the work injury, paid directly to providers by the carrier. You should not receive bills for compensable care.20Texas Legislature. Medical Benefits Handout These are sometimes called “lifetime medical benefits” because they cannot be settled away or capped at a dollar amount or a number of years.21Texas Medical Association. Texas Workers’ Compensation Medical Benefits All treatment must be recommended by the treating doctor outside emergencies, and if your employer uses a certified health care network, you generally must use network providers. Medical value sits on top of the income-benefit math; it is not part of the chart you’re trying to build.
If Your Employer Is a Non-Subscriber
Texas is the only state that lets virtually all private-sector employers opt out of workers’ compensation.22PartnerSource. Opting Out of Workers’ Compensation Study If your employer is a “non-subscriber,” none of the formulas above apply to you. You sue the employer in a standard negligence lawsuit instead, and the employer loses three defenses: it cannot argue you were partly at fault, that you accepted the risk, or that a coworker caused the injury. The value of such a claim depends on jury findings, not on the DWC’s rate tables, so check your employer’s status before you try to estimate anything.