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Maryland Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

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

Regulator
Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission
Market Type
Competitive private market
Rating Organization
NCCI
Class System
NCCI class codes
Step 1 — Your Business
About Your Maryland 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 Maryland: what's different

Maryland splits the job between two agencies. The Workers' Compensation Commission (WCC) enforces the duty to insure, approves self-insurers, and decides claims. The Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA) licenses insurers and approves the loss costs that rates are built on. More than 100 insurance groups offered policies in 2025, and the largest writer is Chesapeake Employers' Insurance Company, a private nonprofit that the law makes the insurer of last resort. NCCI files loss costs for the state.

Who must carry coverage

Maryland law presumes that anyone working for you under a contract of hire, minors included, is a covered employee. To rebut that, you must show the worker is an independent contractor under the common law or fits a specific exemption. That presumption in Section 9-202 has no minimum number of employees; the farm rule below is the one exemption tied to headcount. Casual employees are excluded.

Rules that often come up:

  • Corporate officers and LLC members who are paid for their services count as covered employees. Several groups can elect out: officers of a close corporation, up to five officers of another corporation, officers who own at least 20% of a professional corporation and perform its professional services, officers who own at least 20% of a corporation earning at least 75% of its income from farming, and LLC members holding at least 20% of profit interests. The business must send written notice naming the person to the WCC and its insurer.
  • Sole proprietors and partners are not covered unless they elect in. Only a proprietor or partner working full time in the business may do so.
  • Domestic workers in a private home are covered once they earn $1,000 or more in cash from that household in a calendar quarter.
  • Farm workers are covered when the farmer has at least 3 full-time employees or at least $15,000 in yearly full-time payroll. Office work does not count.
  • Short repair jobs. Maintenance, remodeling, or repair work lasting 30 consecutive work days or less is exempt when done at the employer's home, or at a business with no other covered employee.
  • Real estate agents paid only by commission under a written agreement with a broker, and treated as independent contractors for federal tax purposes, are exempt.

For construction, Md. Code, Lab. & Empl. Section 9-508 makes a principal contractor liable for compensation to a subcontractor's workers on work that is part of the principal's own trade. The principal can recover from the employer who should have paid.

Work done in Maryland is covered even for out-of-state employers. A narrow exception covers temporary work when neither party lives here, the hire was made elsewhere, the home state's coverage extends to Maryland, and that state returns the favor.

Where coverage comes from

Section 9-402 lists the ways to secure compensation. Three are open to most private businesses:

  1. A policy from an authorized insurer. The WCC lists Chesapeake Employers' alongside other licensed carriers.
  2. A self-insurance group of private employers that meets Title 25 of the Insurance Article.
  3. Individual self-insurance. The WCC must approve your plan. You show you can pay claims, and the Commission can demand security or letters of credit and require excess insurance. It also assesses each self-insurer up to $1,500 a year for actuarial studies and audits.

Counties, towns, school boards, and community colleges have a separate governmental group option.

Chesapeake Employers' took over the old Injured Workers' Insurance Fund on October 1, 2013. By statute it is not a state agency, may not be sold, and writes only workers' comp.

Who sets rates

NCCI files pure premium loss costs with the MIA for every insurer in the state, and no insurer may use them until the MIA approves. Loss costs leave out expenses, profit, and claim handling costs, so each carrier applies its own expense multiplier, usable as soon as it is filed. Since January 1, 2023, Chesapeake Employers' has been an NCCI member subject to the same rating rules.

NCCI filed a 5.4% average decrease on August 13, 2026. The MIA's September 23, 2026 report says the filing was approved for January 1, 2027. The year before, the MIA approved a 12.3% cut effective January 1, 2026. NCCI's filings for Maryland have been decreases every year since 2015.

Experience rating

The MIA notes that state law requires insurers to use a uniform experience rating plan, and that every insurer in the state must subscribe to NCCI. NCCI describes its Experience Rating Plan as mandatory once an employer's premium reaches the state's eligibility point, with NCCI computing the mods. Maryland does not appear on NCCI's lists of states where the plan does not apply or where another bureau produces mods. We found no official Maryland dollar threshold.

If no insurer will write you

The MIA describes Chesapeake Employers' as Maryland's residual market insurer. By statute, serving as the workers' comp insurer of last resort is a condition of its being an authorized insurer. It may refuse to issue or renew only for unpaid premium on current or past policies, failure to give payroll information, failure to cooperate with a payroll audit, or failure to reimburse a deductible.

Penalties for going uninsured

  • Commission penalty. The WCC holds a show-cause hearing and can order a penalty of up to $25,000, paid to the Uninsured Employers' Fund. Chapter 78 of 2024 raised that cap from $10,000, effective July 1, 2024. Ignoring an order to insure within 30 days can bring a second penalty of up to $25,000.
  • Criminal charges. Failing to secure coverage is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $5,000, up to one year in jail, or both. The corporate officer in charge of general management faces the same penalty.
  • Claim assessments. When the WCC decides a claim against an uninsured employer, it assesses $500 to $1,000 plus 15% of the award (up to $5,000).
  • Fund recovery. The Uninsured Employers' Fund can sue to recover what it pays your worker, and if the business's assets fall short, managing officers or LLC members who knowingly skipped coverage can be personally liable.
  • Lawsuits. An injured worker can sue you for damages instead of filing a claim, and you lose the assumption of risk, contributory negligence, and fellow servant defenses.

Your ongoing obligations

  • Report injuries. When an injury causes more than 3 days of disability or a death, file the Employer's First Report of Injury with the WCC within 10 days of notice and send a copy to your insurer. Knowingly missing the deadline is a misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500.
  • Post the notice. Display the WCC Employer's Posting Notice (Form C-24) at each worksite. The WCC requires legal-size goldenrod or yellow paper with your insurer details filled in.
  • Show proof for licenses. A state or local agency must see a certificate of compliance or your policy or binder number before it issues you a license or permit.
  • Keep coverage when a policy ends. Carriers must give 45 days' notice before canceling or nonrenewing for reasons other than nonpayment, and 10 days for nonpayment. You must replace coverage before the cancellation date.
  • Pay the premium yourself. Deducting it from wages is a misdemeanor.
  • Minors. Keep a work permit for each minor. Without one, the WCC can double the benefits, and you alone pay the increase.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

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

The MIA's 2026 report shows that Maryland loss costs for "Roofing-All Kinds & Drivers" fell 16.3% from 2026 to 2027, but it does not print the loss cost itself. We found no public Maryland figure for roofing (NCCI class 5551), so every number below is illustrative.

  • Annual roofing payroll (hypothetical): $250,000
  • Rate per $100 (illustrative, already including insurer expenses): $9.00
  • Experience mod (hypothetical): 0.95

The arithmetic

  1. Divide payroll by 100: $250,000 / 100 = 2,500
  2. Multiply by the rate: 2,500 x $9.00 = $22,500.00
  3. Multiply by the mod: $22,500.00 x 0.95 = $21,375.00

A 0.95 mod reflects better than average claims history and trims the estimate by 5%.

Frequently asked questions

Is Chesapeake Employers' a state fund?

No. It took over the Injured Workers' Insurance Fund on October 1, 2013, and by statute it is a private nonprofit corporation, not a state agency. It still must serve as the insurer of last resort.

Do I need coverage for one part-time employee?

In most cases, yes. The law presumes that people you hire are covered employees, and that presumption has no headcount minimum outside the farm rule. The exemptions, such as casual work and short home repair jobs, are narrow.

Can I leave myself off my policy?

Sole proprietors and partners are excluded unless they elect in. Corporate officers and LLC members who qualify must file a written exemption notice with the WCC and the insurer.

Official sources

Sources accessed 2026-10-17.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm details with the Maryland Workers' Compensation Commission.

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