Minnesota Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

Workers' comp in Minnesota: what's different

Minnesota has no state-run workers' comp fund. Chapter 176 gives a private employer two lawful options: buy a policy from a carrier authorized to write workers' comp in the state, or get a written self-insurance order from the Commissioner of Commerce. The Department of Labor and Industry (DLI) enforces the coverage mandate. Class codes and pure premium base rates come from the Minnesota Workers' Compensation Insurers Association (MWCIA), a licensed data service organization, not NCCI.

Who must carry coverage

DLI says there is no minimum headcount. One part-time worker is generally enough to trigger the requirement. Minors, part-time staff, and workers who are not citizens all count as employees.

Section 176.041 carves out specific groups. The ones small businesses ask about most:

• Sole proprietors and partners are excluded, along with their spouse, parents, and children. An owner or partnership can elect coverage in writing to the insurer.
• Executive officers of a closely held corporation (stock held by 10 or fewer people) are excluded if the officer owns at least 25% of the stock and the company had under 22,880 hours of payroll the year before. Their spouse, parents, and children are excluded too.
• LLC managers follow a similar rule: 10 or fewer members, under 22,880 payroll hours, and at least a 25% membership interest.
• Household workers are excluded if they earn under $1,000 in cash from one household in a three-month period, unless they earned $1,000 or more there in a three-month period within the past year.
• Family farms paying under $8,000 in cash wages to farm laborers in the prior year are excluded. The cap rises to the statewide average annual wage for a farm with $300,000 of liability and $5,000 of medical payment coverage for its laborers.
• Casual workers outside the usual course of your business are excluded.

Construction gets its own test. Under Section 181.723, a person doing building construction or improvement work for you as part of your business is your employee for Chapter 176 purposes unless they operate as a business entity meeting all 14 listed requirements, including holding any required workers' comp coverage and working under a signed written contract. Separately, Section 176.215 makes a general or intermediate contractor liable for compensation owed to an uninsured subcontractor's workers.

Minnesota law follows a worker who regularly works in the state onto a job outside it. A North Dakota employer's North Dakota hire who works temporarily in Minnesota (up to 15 consecutive calendar days or 240 hours in a calendar year) stays under North Dakota law.

Where coverage comes from

• An authorized insurer. You can buy through an agent or directly from a carrier.
• Individual self-insurance. You apply to Commerce and show financial ability to pay. The first application costs a nonrefundable $4,000, and Commerce can demand security and revoke the order on 10 days' written notice.
• Group self-insurance. Two or more employers, in the same industry or not, can pool their liabilities under Commerce rules.

Who sets rates

Minnesota uses filed rates built on a bureau base. MWCIA must file statistical plans and class definitions with Commerce for approval, and it must distribute a periodic ratemaking report that includes pure premium relativities. By statute that report carries no loading for expenses or profit. Each insurer then files its own rates and rating plan with Commerce at least 60 days before use.

For 2026, MWCIA's Ratemaking Report, approved by Commerce, cut the overall average pure premium level 4.6% effective January 1, 2026. The 2027 report, also approved by Commerce, cuts it another 4.5% effective January 1, 2027.

Experience rating

The Minnesota Experience Rating Plan is mandatory for employers that meet its premium eligibility amount. MWCIA calculates and issues mods for intrastate employers, and NCCI does so for interstate ones. For 2026 you qualify with $15,000 of subject premium, or a $7,500 annual average if you have more than two years of experience. Those figures rise to $15,500 and $7,750 on January 1, 2027.

If no insurer will write you

The Minnesota Workers' Compensation Assigned Risk Plan (MWCARP) covers employers that a licensed insurer has refused in writing. It is run under the Commissioner of Commerce through service contracts, and the statute says it is not a state agency. The 2026 application goes to MWCIA and requires a written refusal or nonrenewal from a licensed insurer within 90 days of the requested effective date. Plan administration questions go to Affinity Insurance Services (Aon), the listed Plan Administrator.

Commerce sets plan rates every year. For 2027, the Acting Deputy Commissioner ordered a pure premium multiplier of 2.15, a $190 expense constant, a 2.4% Special Compensation Fund surcharge, and an average premium cut of 3.8%. By law, plan premiums may not be lower than rates insurers generally charge.

Penalties for going uninsured

• DLI order. The commissioner can order you to insure, stop employing anyone without coverage, and pay up to $1,000 per employee per week of noncompliance. You get 10 working days to object. Owners and officers who direct employees count as the employer.
• Criminal exposure. Willfully and intentionally failing to insure is a gross misdemeanor.
• Injury costs. The Special Compensation Fund pays an injured worker of an uninsured employer. A compensation judge then orders the employer to repay benefits and costs plus a penalty of 65% of the benefits.
• Lawsuits. The injured worker may sue you in court instead, and you lose the fellow-servant, assumption-of-risk, and contributory-negligence defenses.

Your ongoing obligations

• Report injuries. Report a death or serious injury to DLI and your insurer within 48 hours. For any other injury that disables a worker more than three calendar days, get the First Report of Injury (FROI) to your insurer within 10 days. Give the worker a copy with the Employee Information Sheet.
• Post the notice. Display a commissioner-approved notice with your carrier's name and address at every business location. Ignoring a DLI notice to post can cost $500.
• Show proof for licenses. State and local agencies must see your insurer, policy number, and coverage dates before issuing or renewing a business license. Missing or false information carries a $2,000 penalty.
• Answer proof requests. DLI can ask for proof of coverage, and you have seven working days to respond.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

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

MWCIA's pure premium base rates sit behind a member login, so no voluntary-market rate for roofing is public. What MWCIA does publish, in its circulars, is the Assigned Risk Plan rate schedule. Minnesota class 5551 is "Roofing, All Kinds & Drivers." Its assigned risk rate is $44.006 per $100 of payroll effective January 1, 2026, and $44.976 effective January 1, 2027. Commerce sets these plan rates by order: the pure premium base rate times a 2.15 multiplier, adjusted for the Minnesota Contractors' Premium Adjustment Program. This is not a typical voluntary-market rate. Carriers outside the plan file their own rates, and by law plan premiums may not be lower than rates insurers generally charge. Payroll and mod below are hypothetical.

• Annual roofing payroll (hypothetical): $250,000
• Rate per $100 (MWCARP assigned risk rate, class 5551, effective January 1, 2026): $44.006
• 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 $44.006 = $110,015.00
3. Multiply by the mod: $110,015.00 x 0.95 = $104,514.25

At the 2027 rate of $44.976, the same steps give $106,818.00. A real plan policy would also carry the $190 expense constant and surcharges, which this formula leaves out.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Minn. Stat. 176.011, Definitions
• Minn. Stat. 176.031, Employer's liability exclusive
• Minn. Stat. 176.041, Excluded employments and election of coverage
• Minn. Stat. 176.139, Notice of rights posted
• Minn. Stat. 176.181, Insurance and penalties
• Minn. Stat. 176.182, Business licenses or permits
• Minn. Stat. 176.183, Uninsured employers and the Special Compensation Fund
• Minn. Stat. 176.184, Inspections and enforcement
• Minn. Stat. 176.215, Subcontractor's failure to comply
• Minn. Stat. 176.231, Report of death or injury
• Minn. Stat. 181.723, Construction contractors
• Minn. Stat. 79.251, Administration of assigned risk plan
• Minn. Stat. 79.252, Assigned risk plan
• Minn. Stat. 79.56, Filing rates and rating information
• Minn. Stat. 79.61, Data service organizations
• Minn. Stat. 79.62, Data service organization licensing
• DLI, Who needs workers' compensation coverage?
• DLI, Fact sheet: Workers' compensation insurance
• DLI, Fatality and serious-injury reporting
• MWCIA Circular 25-1863, 2026 Ratemaking Report
• MWCIA Circular 26-1878, 2027 Ratemaking Report
• MWCIA Circular 25-1867, 1/1/2026 Assigned Risk Rates
• MWCIA Circular 26-1880, Assigned Risk Plan Rates Effective January 1, 2027
• MWCIA, Minnesota Experience Rating Plan Manual
• MWCIA, Minnesota Basic Manual (class 5551)
• MWCIA, Ratemaking Report page
• MWCIA, Company Profile (licensed data service organization)
• MWCARP, 2026 Application for Workers' Compensation Insurance
• MWCARP, Attestation Form and Instructions (Plan Administrator contact)
• MWCARP, Contact Us (Assigned Risk Plan Administrator)

Sources accessed 2026-10-17.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm details with the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry.

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