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Kansas Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

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

Regulator
Kansas Department of Labor, Workers Compensation Division
Market Type
Competitive private market
Rating Organization
NCCI
Class System
NCCI class codes
Step 1 — Your Business
About Your Kansas 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 Kansas: what's different

Kansas decides who must carry coverage by payroll, not by headcount. Coverage comes from private insurers, approved self-insurance, or group-funded pools, and there is no state fund that sells policies. The Workers Compensation Division of the Kansas Department of Labor (KDOL) runs the claims and compliance side. The Kansas Insurance Department (KID) regulates insurers and rates, and the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) files loss costs with KID each year.

Who must carry coverage

The Workers Compensation Act covers employers with Kansas employees unless an exception in K.S.A. 44-505 applies. The exception most small businesses care about is the payroll test. You are outside the Act if your gross annual payroll for all employees was no more than $20,000 last calendar year and you reasonably expect it to stay at or under $20,000 this year. A business with no payroll history qualifies on the current-year estimate alone. KDOL counts wages paid both in Kansas and in other states.

Family wages get special treatment. Under the statute, wages paid to an employee related to you by marriage or blood are left out of that payroll total. KDOL's employer guide says this carve-out does not help corporations: a corporate employer counts the payroll of every corporate employee, family or not, and even an employee who has elected out.

Other groups outside the Act:

  • Farm work. Agricultural pursuits and work incident to them are excluded.
  • Real estate agents licensed as salespersons when substantially all of their pay is tied to sales or other output rather than hours, and a written contract says they are not employees for state tax purposes.
  • Owner-operator truck drivers leased to a licensed motor carrier, if the driver has an occupational accident policy and the lease does not treat the driver as an employee for federal payroll tax purposes.
  • Owners. KDOL lists sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members as excluded. Any of them can elect in, but only through an insurance policy that clearly covers them, with the carrier filing the election with the director.

Corporate officers are treated differently. An employee who owns 10% or more of a corporation's stock may file a written election out of the Act before any injury, with a copy to the employer. KDOL says elections must now be filed electronically in its OSCAR system. Employers below the payroll line, or in farming, can also choose to come under the Act.

If you hire subcontractors, K.S.A. 44-503 can make you liable for compensation owed to a subcontractor's injured worker on work that is part of your trade or business.

Roofing contractors must register with the Kansas Attorney General. The application needs proof of workers' comp coverage, or an affidavit of exemption or self-insurance. KID's roofing affidavit lets an owner with no employees, or one under the $20,000 payroll line, attest to the exemption. Knowingly giving false information on an exempt-status affidavit is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $1,000.

Where coverage comes from

K.S.A. 44-532 gives three ways to secure coverage:

  • a policy from an insurer authorized to write workers' comp in Kansas;
  • self-insurance, by proving to the KDOL director that you can pay claims (a private firm generally needs five years of continuous operation to apply); or
  • membership in a qualified group-funded workers' comp pool, which KID administers.

The employer pays the cost. The statute bars charging it to employees.

Who sets rates

NCCI is licensed in Kansas to file recommended loss costs and assigned risk rates for insurers. A loss cost covers expected losses only. Each insurer multiplies it by its own loss cost multiplier (LCM) to set its rate per $100 of payroll, and KID publishes a list of insurers' LCMs. Kansas law requires KID's approval before workers' comp loss cost filings and assigned risk rates can be used. A filing is deemed approved unless KID disapproves it within 30 days.

NCCI filed its January 1, 2026 proposal with KID on September 2, 2025: loss costs down 1.0% and assigned risk rates down 0.9%. On September 2, 2026, it filed for January 1, 2027, asking for a 1.9% loss cost cut and a 1.4% assigned risk cut. As of October 17, 2026, we found no KID approval order or notice for either filing on KID's website or NCCI's public pages. KDOL says about 600 classifications are in use in Kansas.

Experience rating

KDOL points Kansas employers to NCCI for experience rating information. NCCI computes mods under its Experience Rating Plan, and Kansas is not among the states NCCI lists as outside the plan. Once you meet the premium threshold, rating is mandatory. KDOL's employer guide (revised April 2025) puts the threshold at $4,500 of annual premium in the last two years, or a $2,250 annual average over a longer period. NCCI's plan sets these amounts, so confirm the current figure.

If no insurer will write you

K.S.A. 40-2109 requires every workers' comp insurer to take part in a plan that shares out employers who cannot get coverage through ordinary channels. That plan is the Kansas Workers Compensation Insurance Plan, and NCCI acts as its pool and plan administrator. Assigned risk premiums start from the same loss costs as the voluntary market, but KDOL notes they can run higher because of assigned risk differentials and your loss history.

Penalties for going uninsured

  • Criminal. Knowingly and intentionally failing to secure coverage is a class A misdemeanor.
  • Civil penalty. After a hearing, the director can assess twice the annual premium you would have paid, or $25,000, whichever is greater. A self-employed subcontractor is not fined for leaving only himself uncovered.
  • Claims still get paid, and you repay them. If an uninsured employer cannot pay or cannot be found, an injured worker can be paid from the state Workers Compensation Fund. The Insurance Commissioner can then sue the employer to recover that money.
  • Business closure. KDOL warns that failing to secure coverage can also lead to closing the business.

Your ongoing obligations

  • Post the notice. Display KDOL's poster K-WC 40-A, Workers Compensation Rights and Responsibilities, in one or more conspicuous places.
  • Report accidents within 28 days. The duty covers any accident that keeps a worker off work beyond the rest of the day, shift, or turn. In practice you tell your insurer in time for it to file the first report of injury with KDOL by EDI within 28 days. Repeated failure to report can bring a civil penalty of up to $250 per violation.
  • Inform the injured worker. As soon as you learn of an injury or death, give the employee or beneficiary a written description of benefits and the claims process. KDOL's forms are K-WC 27-A (English) and K-WC 270-A (Spanish).
  • No payroll deductions. You cannot deduct premiums or claim costs from wages.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

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

We could not find a published Kansas loss cost for roofing class 5551 on an official site, so every input below is illustrative. The LCM of 1.50 sits close to the middle of the multipliers on KID's list.

  • Annual payroll: $250,000 (hypothetical)
  • Loss cost: $4.00 per $100 (illustrative)
  • LCM: 1.50 (illustrative)
  • Experience mod: 0.95 (hypothetical)

Step by step

  1. Rate: $4.00 x 1.50 = $6.00 per $100 of payroll
  2. Payroll in hundreds: $250,000 / 100 = 2,500
  3. Manual premium: 2,500 x $6.00 = $15,000
  4. Apply the mod: $15,000 x 0.95 = $14,250

With a 1.20 mod, the same employer would owe $18,000. A real quote depends on the insurer's own LCM and other rating factors.

Frequently asked questions

Does Kansas exempt small businesses?

Yes, by payroll. If your total gross payroll was $20,000 or less last year and you expect it to stay at or under $20,000 this year, the Act does not apply. Wages paid to relatives are left out of the total, except for corporations.

Does Kansas have a state fund I can buy from?

No. You buy from a private insurer, self-insure, or join a group-funded pool. The Workers Compensation Fund run by KID pays certain claims, such as those against insolvent uninsured employers. It does not sell coverage.

Can a corporate officer opt out?

An employee who owns at least 10% of the corporation's stock can file a written election out before any injury. KDOL takes elections through its OSCAR system.

Do roofers need proof of coverage?

Yes. To register with the Attorney General, a roofing contractor must show workers' comp coverage, or an affidavit of exemption or self-insurance.

Official sources

Sources accessed 2026-10-17.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm details with the Kansas Department of Labor, Workers Compensation Division.

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