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Arizona Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

Estimate an Arizona workers' comp premium from payroll, a rate per $100 and your experience mod. Default rates are illustrative.

Regulator
Industrial Commission of Arizona
Market Type
Competitive private market
Rating Organization
NCCI
Class System
NCCI class codes
Step 1 — Your Business
About Your Arizona Business
Step 2 — Experience & Claims
Your Claims History
Total Incurred ($)
# of Claims
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Step 3 — Compare Options
Coverage Options
Your Results
Premium Estimate
Estimated Annual Premium
$0
Payroll/100 × Rate × EMR
YearEstimate
Illustrative Mod Path (3 Years)
Current Path
PEO Path

An estimate, not a quote. How this calculator works.

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Workers' comp in Arizona: what's different

Arizona no longer has a state fund. A 2010 law replaced the old State Compensation Fund with a successor mutual insurer, which took over the fund's assets and liabilities on January 1, 2013. The same law says the successor is not a state agency or public entity. Today you either buy a policy from a carrier licensed by the Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions (DIFI) or get approval from the Industrial Commission of Arizona (ICA) to self-insure. NCCI files the statewide rates with DIFI each year. The ICA enforces the coverage mandate and oversees the claims system.

Who must carry coverage

Arizona's threshold is one worker. The law reaches every person who employs workers "regularly employed" in the same business, and the ICA says that applies regardless of how many workers you have, including part-time workers, minors, and family members.

Points to check for your business:

  • Domestic servants. Employers of domestic servants are exempt, though they may choose to come under the law.
  • Casual labor. A worker is excluded only when the job is both casual and outside your usual line of business.
  • Corporate shareholders. A working shareholder who owns less than 50% of the corporation is an employee. One who owns 50% or more is covered only if the carrier accepts an application by endorsement.
  • LLC members. The same 50% split applies to working LLC members.
  • Sole proprietors and partners. They are not covered automatically. A carrier may agree to cover them by endorsement, at an assumed monthly wage of at least $600. Any employees they hire must be covered.
  • Contractors. If you control work that is part of your regular business, the contractor's workers can count as your employees. A signed agreement that meets the A.R.S. 23-902(D) checklist, including a statement that the contractor gets no workers' comp from your business, creates a rebuttable presumption of independent contractor status.
  • Out-of-state crews. A worker from another state is exempt while temporarily in Arizona if, among other conditions, the home-state policy covers the work and that state gives Arizona employers the same treatment. "Temporarily" means fewer than 90 continuous days of work here in the prior 365 days.

One rule is unusual. Under A.R.S. 23-906, an employee may reject workers' comp in writing before an injury and keep the right to sue instead. You must send that notice to your carrier within five days. You cannot make rejection a condition of the job.

Where coverage comes from

A.R.S. 23-961 allows two routes, insurance or ICA-approved self-insurance, and says no other mechanism counts. In practice that means three options:

  • An authorized carrier. Any insurer that DIFI authorizes to write workers' comp in Arizona.
  • Self-insurance. You prove to the ICA that you can pay claims directly. The ICA may require a deposit of at least $100,000.
  • A self-insurance pool. Two or more employers in similar industries can form a pool, which the ICA must approve as a self-insurer. Each member needs at least five straight years in business, and the group must have paid at least $750,000 in workers' comp premium the year before. Members are jointly and severally liable.

The ICA calls the law's coverage requirement mandatory, and the statute bars selling any substitute product as workers' comp.

Who sets rates

NCCI is the licensed rating organization that files rates for its member insurers. Arizona law requires a statewide filing every year, due by August 1, for rates effective January 1. NCCI files the statewide rates themselves, and state law requires every insurer to adhere to them. The one exception: each insurer may file up to six uniform percentage deviations. A carrier cannot apply a deviation and schedule rating to the same policy.

For January 1, 2026, NCCI filed on July 29, 2025 for a 6.7% cut in voluntary rates and a 6.6% cut in assigned risk rates. DIFI reviewed the filing and said the 6.7% decrease takes effect January 1, 2026, Arizona's 12th straight annual decrease. On July 28, 2026, NCCI proposed a 0.2% decrease for January 1, 2027. We found no DIFI decision on that filing. We could not open DIFI's website directly, and the newest DIFI rate release we found in archived copies covers the 2026 rates.

State law also lets carriers cut premium up to 5% for employers that follow the state's drug testing rules, test applicants and injured workers, and share results with the carrier.

Experience rating

Arizona defines its experience rating plan as mandatory for every eligible insured. Insurers must use the expected loss ratios, ballast factors, and other experience rating factors set by the designated rating organization.

If no insurer will write you

An employer turned down by two or more insurers goes into the Arizona assigned risk plan. DIFI contracts with an administrator, which picks servicing carriers to issue policies and pay claims. Every workers' comp insurer must take part. Since a 2025 law (Laws 2025, ch. 120), you are no longer guaranteed a spot in the plan if, on a current or past policy, you knowingly ignored safety, audit, or loss prevention requirements or blocked a carrier's access to your records. The same goes if you owe premium that is not in genuine dispute, or knowingly break the plan's application rules or misstate facts on the application. Unless DIFI picks another method, plan rates are the filed rates plus a uniform percentage increase, and rating rule deviations are not allowed.

Penalties for going uninsured

  • Lawsuits. An injured worker can sue you, and you lose the assumption-of-risk and contributory-negligence defenses. Proof of injury counts as evidence of your negligence.
  • Special Fund claims. The worker can instead claim through the ICA. The Special Fund pays the benefits, then bills you for them plus the greater of 10% or $1,000, plus interest.
  • Civil penalties. The ICA can fine you up to $1,000. A second violation within five years can cost up to $5,000, and a third up to $10,000.
  • Shutdown. The ICA can ask a court to order you to stop operating until you are insured.
  • Criminal charge. The ICA's employer FAQ states that going without coverage is a class 6 felony, citing A.R.S. 23-932.

Your ongoing obligations

  • Post the notice. Keep the A.R.S. 23-906 notice posted in English and Spanish where workers can see it, and keep blank rejection forms available. If you don't, new hires are not deemed to have accepted the law and can choose to sue you.
  • Report injuries. File a report with the ICA and your carrier within 10 days after you learn of an accident. The ICA's form is the Employer's Report of Injury (Form 101). An ICA FAQ says the form is now completed through an online webform.
  • Tell the worker. As soon as you learn of an injury, give the employee your carrier's name and address, your policy number, and the expiration date.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

Premium = (payroll / 100) x rate per $100 x experience mod

We did not find an official 2026 Arizona rate for roofing (NCCI code 5551) in the sources we could reach on October 16, 2026: NCCI's public filing summaries give only overall changes, and we could not open DIFI's website directly. So every number below is illustrative, including the rate.

  • Annual payroll (hypothetical): $320,000
  • Rate per $100 (illustrative): $6.40
  • Experience mod (hypothetical): 0.88
  • Drug-free workplace credit (illustrative): 5%

Step by step

  1. Payroll in hundreds: $320,000 / 100 = 3,200
  2. Manual premium: 3,200 x $6.40 = $20,480.00
  3. Apply the mod: $20,480.00 x 0.88 = $18,022.40
  4. Apply a 5% drug testing credit: $18,022.40 x 0.95 = $17,121.28

Because Arizona insurers must adhere to the filed statewide rates, this example applies no loss cost multiplier. Your carrier may still apply a filed deviation or schedule rating, and the drug testing credit is up to 5% at the carrier's option.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need workers' comp for one employee in Arizona?

Yes. The ICA says the requirement applies no matter how many workers you have, part-time included, as long as you regularly hire workers in your business. Domestic servants and casual workers outside your usual business are the main exceptions.

Does Arizona still have a state fund?

Arizona has no state fund. A successor mutual insurer took over the former State Compensation Fund's assets and liabilities on January 1, 2013, and the law says it is not a state agency. You buy from any DIFI-authorized carrier or self-insure with ICA approval.

Can an employee opt out of workers' comp?

Yes, but only in writing and before an injury. The employer must file the rejection with its carrier within five days, and cannot require a worker to reject coverage.

What happens if I get caught without coverage?

The ICA can fine you up to $1,000 for a first violation, with repeat penalties of up to $5,000 for a second and $10,000 for a third within five years. It can also seek a court order shutting your business until you are insured.

How fast must I report an injury?

Within 10 days after you receive notice of the accident, to both the ICA and your carrier.

Official sources

Sources accessed 2026-10-16.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm details with the Industrial Commission of Arizona.

Reviewer: Sam Newland, CFP, Founder of Benefitra. Last updated October 17, 2026. How the calculator works. Editorial policy.