Nevada Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

Workers' comp in Nevada: what's different

Nevada has no state fund today. Employers buy a policy from a private carrier or qualify to self-insure, either alone or through an association. Two agencies split the work: the Division of Industrial Relations (DIR), through its Workers' Compensation Section, polices coverage, while the Division of Insurance (DOI) reviews rates. NCCI files the advisory loss costs. Nevada also caps the payroll counted toward premium for each worker, a cap that changed October 1, 2026.

Who must carry coverage

DIR says any employer with one or more employees must provide coverage unless a statute excludes them, and that coverage starts the moment a worker is hired. Family members who work for you count.

NRS 616A.110 leaves out a short list, including:

• casual work that is outside the course of your business;
• household domestic service and farm, dairy, agricultural, and livestock or poultry work;
• licensed real estate brokers and salespeople;
• clergy, and some commission-paid direct sellers with a written non-employee agreement.

You may still elect coverage for excluded workers by filing a written statement with DIR and your insurer.

How owners are treated:

• Corporate officers and LLC managers are covered. An officer who owns the company and takes pay, or one who takes no pay, can reject coverage in writing; the rejection takes effect when the insurer receives it. For premium, a paid officer's pay is deemed at least $6,000 and at most $36,000 a policy year.
• Sole proprietors (which includes working partners) without employees need not cover themselves but may elect to. DIR says a sole proprietor who is a licensed contractor working within the scope of that license must secure coverage.

Contractors carry extra risk. Subcontractors, independent contractors, and their employees are treated as employees of the principal contractor. The "independent enterprise" exception covers hiring a separate business, outside your own trade, that holds its own license or owns or leases its business property. It never applies to principal contractors licensed under NRS chapter 624. On construction jobs, DIR says, the prime is almost always responsible but can demand proof of coverage from subs.

Where coverage comes from

• Private carriers licensed in Nevada.
• Self-insurance, certified by the Insurance Commissioner. A new self-insurer needs tangible net worth of at least $2,500,000 and a bond of at least $100,000.
• Associations of self-insured employers, groups of five or more. Private-employer groups must belong to a Nevada trade association that has existed at least 5 years.

Who sets rates

NCCI files prospective loss costs, which by statute exclude expenses and profit. A loss cost filing is deemed approved unless the Commissioner disapproves it within 60 days. Each carrier then files either final rates or a multiplier applied to NCCI's loss costs. DOI's worksheet allows competitive but not "open" rating, permits schedule rating as the only other variable, and requires substantial justification for a multiplier below 1.200.

DOI's filing page still shows NCCI's March 1, 2025 filing as the latest, approved as filed with a 6.5% average loss cost increase. For March 1, 2026, NCCI proposed 21.9%. NCCI now describes the approved filing as a 21.6% loss cost level increase effective that date, though DOI had not posted the decision when we checked. NCCI says DOI also approved a one-time filing effective October 1, 2026 that cut loss costs to offset the higher payroll cap. On August 19, 2026, NCCI filed for an 8.6% increase effective March 1, 2027, and its SB 317 page says DOI approved that filing. The approved percentage was not in the public material we found.

The payroll cap

For premium purposes, Nevada counts only part of a high earner's pay. Through September 30, 2026, the most counted for any one employee in a policy year was $36,000. From October 1, 2026, private employers use 12 times DIR's maximum average monthly wage. NCCI puts that at $98,433.60 for October 1, 2026, and says the cap in force when a policy starts applies for its whole term. DIR's memo sets the wage used from January 1, 2027 at $8,537.68 a month, and NCCI gives the matching cap as $102,452.16. State and local government employers stay at $36,000 unless they opt in.

Experience rating

Every carrier must follow the uniform classification system and uniform experience rating plan filed by the advisory organization. By law that plan is the only basis for adjusting future premium to your own loss history.

If no insurer will write you

No carrier must insure any particular employer. Instead, every carrier joins a plan that spreads hard-to-place employers among insurers. NCCI administers it as the Nevada Workers Compensation Insurance Plan. NCCI says a licensed producer must apply for you. The plan uses its own assigned risk rates.

Penalties for going uninsured

• Fine and back premium. DIR says the fine can reach $15,000. DIR can also bill the premium you would have paid, at the Commissioner's manual rates, for up to 6 years, plus interest.
• Shutdown. DIR can order all operations at the workplace or jobsite stopped until you are covered, with a hearing 5 to 15 days later. Knowingly ignoring the order is a misdemeanor.
• Crimes. A first offense is a misdemeanor. If a worker suffers substantial bodily harm or death while you are uninsured, or you offend again within 7 years, it is a category C felony with 1 to 5 years in prison and a $1,000 to $50,000 fine.
• Claim costs. You repay every benefit, administrative cost, and attorney fee the Uninsured Employers' Claim Account pays, plus interest at prime plus 3%.

Your ongoing obligations

• Post the notices. Display DIR's Form D-1 poster naming your insurer and its nearest Nevada adjuster, and Form D-22 if employees earn tips. Failing to post is a misdemeanor.
• Keep proof on site. A copy of your policy and declarations page must be available at each place of business. At a temporary site meant to last under a year, produce it within 24 hours of a request.
• Handle injury forms. An injured worker gives you written notice on Form C-1 within 7 days. Keep each notice 3 years, but do not send it to a private carrier. File Form C-3 with your insurer within 6 working days after receiving the doctor's claim form (C-4). DIR can fine up to $1,000 per violation.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

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

The latest Nevada loss costs DOI has posted took effect March 1, 2025. They list class 5551 (roofing) at $6.93 per $100 of payroll. That is an NCCI advisory loss cost, not a rate, and it is out of date: the approved 21.6% average increase of March 1, 2026 and the offsetting cut of October 1, 2026 have replaced it. We found no official 2026 figure for 5551, so $6.93 appears here only to show the method. The multiplier, payroll, and mod below are hypothetical.

• Three roofers paid $60,000, $75,000, and $120,000 (hypothetical), on a policy starting in late 2026
• Payroll cap per employee: $98,433.60
• Loss cost for 5551 (March 1, 2025, superseded): $6.93
• Loss cost multiplier: 1.30 (illustrative, above DOI's 1.200 justification line)
• Experience mod: 0.95 (hypothetical)

Step by step

1. Cap the top earner: $60,000 + $75,000 + $98,433.60 = $233,433.60 counted payroll
2. Divide by 100: $233,433.60 / 100 = 2,334.336
3. Build the rate: $6.93 x 1.30 = $9.009 per $100
4. Multiply: 2,334.336 x $9.009 = $21,030.03
5. Apply the mod: $21,030.03 x 0.95 = $19,978.53

Your carrier's current loss costs, its own multiplier, and its minimum premium will change the result.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• NRS Chapter 616A
• NRS Chapter 616B
• NRS Chapter 616C
• NRS Chapter 616D
• NRS Chapter 686B (industrial insurance rates, NRS 686B.1751 to 686B.1799)
• DIR, Employers page
• DIR, Employer FAQ
• DIR, Employer Coverage Requirements
• DIR, Employer Guide (7/26)
• DIR, Mandatory Posting Requirements
• DIR, FY27 Maximum Compensation memo
• NCCI, Nevada Payroll Cap and Premium Changes Under Senate Bill 317
• NCCI, FYI-DR-NV-2026-01, SB 317 payroll cap (posted by DIR)
• DOI, Workers' Compensation filing information
• DOI, Loss Cost Multiplier worksheet
• NCCI approval circular, March 1, 2025 (posted by DOI)
• Advisory loss costs and rating values, March 1, 2025 (posted by DOI)
• NCCI, Proposed Nevada filing effective March 1, 2026
• NCCI, Proposed Nevada filing effective March 1, 2027
• NCCI, Nevada WCIP state instructions
• NCCI, Nevada Residual Market State Activity Report, Q2 2026

Sources accessed 2026-10-17.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm details with the Nevada Division of Industrial Relations, Workers' Compensation Section.

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