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Pennsylvania Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

Estimate a Pennsylvania workers' comp premium from payroll, a rate per $100 and your experience mod. Defaults are explained under the rate field.

Regulator
Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, Bureau of Workers' Compensation
Market Type
Private insurers and SWIF
Rating Organization
PCRB
Class System
Pennsylvania (PCRB) three-digit classes
Step 1 — Your Business
About Your Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania: what's different

Pennsylvania runs a competitive market with a state fund in it: private carriers, the State Workers' Insurance Fund (SWIF), or approved self-insurance. The Department of Labor & Industry (L&I), through its Bureau of Workers' Compensation, enforces the coverage rule. Pricing starts with the Pennsylvania Compensation Rating Bureau (PCRB), an independent bureau that files loss costs with the Insurance Department for the companies writing this coverage. PCRB, not NCCI, assigns class codes, and they use their own numbering (roofing is code 659).

Who must carry coverage

The Bureau's rule is broad: if you have at least one employee who could be hurt or become ill from work in Pennsylvania, you must insure. Part-time workers count, and so do family members such as a spouse or children. You can skip coverage only if every worker you have falls into an excluded group. The main ones:

  • Sole proprietors and general partners with no other employees.
  • LLCs whose only workers are the LLC's members.
  • Executive officers granted an exclusion. Under Section 104 of the Act, this covers officers with an ownership interest in an S corporation, officers owning at least 5% of a C corporation, and unpaid volunteer officers of a nonprofit. The forms are LIBC-509 and LIBC-513, filed with your carrier, or with the Bureau if you have no other employees.
  • Domestic workers, unless you elect to cover them.
  • Farm labor under Section 302(c), when no worker is paid $1,200 or more in a year and no one works 30 or more days.
  • Casual workers outside your regular business, federal, railroad, and longshore workers, and Bureau-approved religious exemptions.

Construction has extra rules. Under the Construction Workplace Misclassification Act (Act 72 of 2010), a construction worker is an independent contractor only with a written contract, freedom from your control, and an independently established business. A contractor is liable for an uninsured sub's employees and may recover the cost from the sub (Section 302(a)). Section 302 also bars subcontracting to anyone who has not shown proof of insurance, and a municipality must see proof of coverage, or an affidavit that you have no employees, before issuing a building permit.

Where coverage comes from

L&I lists four routes: an agent or broker, a private carrier bought directly (it counts 300+ of them), self-insurance, or SWIF. Self-insurers need a one-year Bureau permit, three consecutive years in business, posted security, and an accident and illness prevention program. Similar businesses can also self-insure as a certified group.

SWIF dates to 1915 and runs as an enterprise fund inside L&I, overseen by a board of the Secretary of Labor & Industry, the Insurance Commissioner, and the State Treasurer. Any employer may choose SWIF, even with a private offer in hand.

Who sets rates

PCRB's loss cost filings are made under Section 705 of the Act. Pennsylvania is a loss cost state: PCRB files loss costs, and each insurer applies its own multiplier to reach a rate. Carriers may also use subclassifications approved by the Insurance Department.

The latest change: PCRB filed Proposal C-387 on November 24, 2025, seeking a 1.22% overall decrease in collectible loss costs. The Insurance Commissioner approved it as filed on January 21, 2026, effective April 1, 2026 for new and renewal policies. The same filing cut the Employer Assessment Factor from 2.22% to 2.18%.

Experience rating

PCRB runs the Experience Rating Plan and calls it mandatory. You qualify when payroll from the experience period (up to three years, ending one year before the mod date), extended at current PCRB loss costs, produces $5,000 or more in premium. That threshold dropped from $10,000 under the plan revised April 1, 2024. Smaller risks may fall under PCRB's Merit Rating Plan instead. Separately, a Bureau-certified workplace safety committee earns a 5% annual premium discount.

If no insurer will write you

SWIF is the backstop. L&I says SWIF, as a state agency, must provide coverage to all businesses, especially those private insurers turn away, and notes that most new businesses struggle to get coverage for lack of experience. The Insurance Department's consumer guide calls SWIF a "last resort" insurer.

Penalties for going uninsured

  • Criminal. Under Section 305(b), failing to insure is a third-degree misdemeanor, and a third-degree felony if the court finds it intentional. Every day counts as a separate offense. L&I puts the exposure at up to $2,500 and one year in prison per day for a misdemeanor, and up to $15,000 and seven years per day for a felony.
  • Personal exposure. L&I says the employer and the people responsible for acting on its behalf can each be charged, and can be ordered to pay benefits a judge awards.
  • Lawsuits. An injured worker can sue you in court instead of filing a comp claim, and may recover more than comp would pay.
  • Repayment. If the Uninsured Employers Guaranty Fund pays your worker, L&I will seek reimbursement plus interest, penalties, and fees.
  • Stop-work orders. Under Section 1610, L&I can order an uninsured employer to cease operations. If it sends you a coverage certification form and you do not return it within 15 days, it can also assess $200 a day for up to 30 days.
  • Misclassifying construction workers. Act 72 allows administrative penalties up to $1,000 for a first violation and $2,500 for each later one, criminal charges for intentional violations, and court stop-work orders.

Your ongoing obligations

  • Post the notice. Section 305(e) requires a notice at your main place of business and each work site, naming your carrier with its address and phone number (or the claims contact if you self-insure) and stating: "Remember, it is important to tell your employer about your injury."
  • Report injuries. Tell your insurer about every injury immediately. If an injury costs a day, shift, or turn of work, a First Report of Injury must reach the Bureau within seven days, or within 48 hours for a death.
  • Pay on time. The first wage-loss payment is due by the 21st day after you learn of the disability, unless the claim is denied in that window.
  • Optional provider panel. Post a compliant list of six or more health care providers and get workers' written acknowledgment, and you may not owe for care from unlisted providers during the first 90 days of treatment.

Workers have their own deadline. Unless you already know of the injury, a worker who does not give notice within 21 days is owed nothing until notice is given, and nothing at all if notice comes more than 120 days after the injury.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

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

PCRB class 659 is "Roofing - All Kinds." Its approved loss cost is $7.547 per $100 of payroll, effective April 1, 2026. That is a loss cost, not a final rate. Each carrier multiplies it by its own loss cost multiplier (LCM). The 1.50 LCM below is illustrative only, and the payroll and mod are hypothetical.

  • Hypothetical roofing payroll: $250,000
  • Class 659 loss cost (effective April 1, 2026): $7.547
  • Illustrative LCM: 1.50
  • Hypothetical experience mod: 0.92

Step by step

  1. Payroll in hundreds: $250,000 / 100 = 2,500
  2. Rate per $100: $7.547 x 1.50 = $11.3205
  3. Premium before the mod: 2,500 x $11.3205 = $28,301.25
  4. Apply the mod: $28,301.25 x 0.92 = $26,037.15

Another carrier's LCM would give a different rate for the same work, and credits such as the safety committee discount would change the final bill.

Frequently asked questions

Does Pennsylvania have a state fund?

Yes. SWIF sells workers' comp alongside private carriers, and any employer can choose it. It is also the fallback for employers private carriers will not insure.

I'm a sole proprietor with no employees. Do I need a policy?

No. Sole proprietors and general partners with no other employees fall outside the requirement. Once you hire anyone, part-time or family, you need coverage.

Why does my quote differ from another carrier's for the same class?

PCRB publishes loss costs, not final rates. Each insurer applies its own multiplier, so two carriers can price the same class code differently.

When did Pennsylvania's rates last change?

Loss costs dropped 1.22% overall on April 1, 2026, after the Insurance Commissioner approved PCRB's filing on January 21, 2026.

Official sources

Sources accessed 2026-10-17.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm details with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, Bureau of Workers' Compensation.

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