North Carolina Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

Workers' comp in North Carolina: what's different

The statute gives North Carolina employers no state fund option. G.S. 97-93 lets them buy a policy from an authorized insurer or get a self-insurance license from the Commissioner of Insurance. The Industrial Commission administers the Workers' Compensation Act and pursues uninsured employers. Pricing runs through the North Carolina Rate Bureau (NCRB), a body created by statute that files advisory loss costs and assigned risk rates with the Commissioner. NCCI does the actuarial work on those filings under contract with the NCRB.

Who must carry coverage

The Act reaches private businesses that regularly employ three or more people in the same business. One employee is enough if the work involves radiation.

• Corporate officers count. Every executive officer is an employee, so the Commission notes that a corporation with two officers and one worker must carry coverage. An officer can be left off the policy by a specific exclusion in the insurance contract, and the Commission says officers still count toward three.
• Owners outside a corporation. Sole proprietors, partners, and LLC members are not automatically counted. Each may elect to be covered if actively engaged in the business and the insurer is notified.
• Farms. Agricultural work is exempt unless the employer regularly has 10 or more full-time, nonseasonal farm workers.
• Other exclusions. Domestic servants, casual employees, federal employees, and most railroads are outside the Act. So is a small sawmill or logging operator with fewer than 10 employees that runs less than 60 days in any six consecutive months and whose main business is something else.
• Contractors. A contractor who sublets work without getting a certificate of coverage from the subcontractor is liable for the sub's injured workers, even when the sub has fewer than three employees.
• Trucking. A motor carrier of any size can owe coverage for an uninsured owner-operator, unless the operator holds an individual U.S. DOT license and drives the truck personally.
• Work outside the state. An employee hurt elsewhere can still claim North Carolina benefits if the contract of hire was made here, the employer's principal place of business is here, or the job is principally located here.

An exempt employer that buys a policy is bound by the Act while it lasts. Occupational accident insurance is not a legal substitute, the Commission warns.

Where coverage comes from

You can insure through an authorized carrier or through a mutual association formed by a group of employers. A single employer needs a license from the Commissioner of Insurance to self-insure, and can apply only if its fixed assets total at least $500,000. Group self-insurers are licensed by the Commissioner too. Self-insurers must join the North Carolina Self-Insurance Security Association, which pays claims of an insolvent member.

Who sets rates

The NCRB files prospective loss costs for the voluntary market and rates for the assigned risk market. Loss costs carry no allowance for expenses or profit beyond loss adjustment expense. Each insurer adds its own multiplier, a single number applied equally to every class code it writes, so prices vary by company. The NCRB posts carriers' filed multipliers online.

The loss costs now in effect took effect April 1, 2026, after the Commissioner approved an average 7.8% decrease as filed. On August 31, 2026, the NCRB filed for a 10.6% average cut effective April 1, 2027. The Commissioner approved it as filed, and the NCRB announced the approval on October 2, 2026. A separate 14.3% average cut in assigned risk rates was approved for the same date.

Experience rating

The NCRB collects the experience data used to calculate experience modifications. For ratings effective April 1, 2026 or later, a business qualifies for a mod with at least $15,000 of subject premium in the latest 24 months of the experience period, or $7,500 average annual premium when more than 24 months are used. Those amounts rise to $16,000 and $8,000 for ratings effective April 1, 2027 or later.

If no insurer will write you

The NCRB administers the North Carolina Workers Compensation Insurance Plan, the assigned risk market. A licensed agent must certify that your business is difficult to place. Once the NCRB receives an application with the estimated or deposit premium, it binds coverage for 30 days and names a member insurer to issue a standard policy. You cannot pick the carrier; assignments are distributed among authorized carriers. Plan coverage can be refused to an employer that is not in good faith entitled to it, for example one with unpaid workers' comp premium.

Penalties for going uninsured

• Daily civil penalty. $1 per employee per day, at least $20 and no more than $100 a day, until you comply.
• First-time alternative. An employer that buys coverage and hands over its payroll records can ask the Commission to swap that penalty for the per-employee cost of the new policy times the average headcount while uninsured, plus 10%.
• Look-back limit. Penalties cannot reach back more than three years before the first assessment.
• Crimes. Willfully failing to insure is a Class H felony, and neglecting to is a Class 1 misdemeanor. The same applies to any person with the authority to bring the business into compliance, who can also be fined up to 100% of compensation owed to workers injured while it was uninsured.
• Lawsuits. An injured worker may claim under the Act or sue you at law.

Your ongoing obligations

• Post Form 17. Insured and self-insured employers must post a notice that their workers are covered by the Act. If coverage lapses, take any notice saying otherwise down within five working days.
• File Form 19 within 5 days. Report an injury to the Commission when the worker misses more than one day or medical costs pass the Commission's limit ($4,000 on the current Form 17). Give the worker a copy along with a blank Form 18. Not reporting carries a $5 to $25 penalty each time.
• Keep injury records. Record every workplace injury, and file a supplementary report when disability ends or reaches 60 days.
• Prove coverage when asked. You must file evidence of compliance with the Commission as often as it requires. The Commission runs a public insurance coverage search.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

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

The NCRB publishes advisory loss costs by class. For code 5551, "Roofing-All Kinds & Drivers," the approved loss cost effective April 1, 2026 is $6.836 per $100 of payroll. It is a loss cost, not a rate, so an insurer's multiplier goes on top.

• Hypothetical roofing payroll: $250,000
• Approved NCRB loss cost, class 5551 (effective April 1, 2026): $6.836
• Illustrative loss cost multiplier: 1.35 (not any carrier's filed figure)
• Hypothetical experience mod: 0.95

Step by step

1. Payroll in hundreds: $250,000 / 100 = 2,500
2. Rate per $100: $6.836 x 1.35 = $9.2286
3. Manual premium: 2,500 x $9.2286 = $23,071.50
4. Apply the mod: $23,071.50 x 0.95 = $21,917.93

For policies effective on or after April 1, 2027, the approved 5551 loss cost drops to $6.337. With the same inputs, the estimate falls to about $20,318. In the assigned risk plan, where the NCRB rate already includes expenses, the 2026 rate for 5551 is $19.654 per $100, which works out to $46,678.25 for this example.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• NC Industrial Commission, Employers
• NC Industrial Commission, Compliance Division
• NC Industrial Commission, Form 17 workplace poster
• NC Industrial Commission, Form 19
• NC Industrial Commission, Insurance Coverage Search
• NC General Statutes, Chapter 97
• NC General Statutes, Chapter 58, Article 36 (North Carolina Rate Bureau)
• NC Department of Insurance, Workers Compensation
• NC Department of Insurance, Individual Self-Insured Workers' Compensation Licensing
• NCRB, Workers Compensation
• NCRB, Workers Compensation Rate Filings
• NCRB, Workers Compensation Reference Library
• NCRB, Workers Compensation FAQs
• NCRB Circular C-25-11 (loss costs approved effective April 1, 2026)
• NCRB Circular C-26-9 (loss costs approved effective April 1, 2027)
• NCRB Circular C-26-8 (assigned risk rates approved effective April 1, 2027)
• NCRB 2026 loss cost filing (filed August 31, 2026)
• NCRB advisory loss costs and assigned risk rates, effective April 1, 2026 (Excel)
• NCRB approved rate pages, effective April 1, 2027
• NCRB Basic Manual Rule 4, Workers Compensation Insurance Plan

Sources accessed 2026-10-17.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm details with the North Carolina Industrial Commission.

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