Wisconsin Workers' Comp Rate Calculator

Workers' comp in Wisconsin: what's different

Wisconsin does not use NCCI, and it does not let insurers set their own rates. The Wisconsin Compensation Rating Bureau (WCRB), a licensed rate service organization made up of insurers, sets one rate for each class code. The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) must approve those rates, and every carrier has to use them; deviations are not allowed. The state sells no coverage. The Department of Workforce Development's Worker's Compensation Division (DWD) runs the Act itself, including coverage enforcement.

Who must carry coverage

Three tests decide it. You need a policy if any of these apply:

• Three or more employees, full-time or part-time. Coverage is required on the day you hire the third person.
• One or two employees to whom you paid combined gross wages of $500 or more in a calendar quarter for work in Wisconsin. Coverage must start by the 10th day of the first month of the next quarter.
• Farmers with six or more employees working on the same day for any 20 days in a calendar year (they need not be consecutive). Coverage is due 10 days after the 20th day. There is no wage test for farms.

Family members, minors and part-time workers all count toward these numbers, except that some farm relatives do not.

Owners. Sole proprietors, partners and LLC members with no employees do not need a policy. Policies leave them out unless an endorsement names them, and they may buy coverage for themselves.

Corporate officers are employees. A closely held corporation (10 or fewer stockholders) with no more than two officers and no other employees can skip a policy if both officers file a Corporate Officer Option Notice with DWD. Excluded officers still count when deciding whether the business is subject to the Act.

Independent contractors. A worker must meet all nine conditions in s. 102.07(8) to be a contractor, including holding an FEIN or having filed business tax returns, working under specific contracts, and facing profit or loss. A label alone, even one from another agency, does not settle it.

Not covered: domestic servants, most volunteers (including nonprofit volunteers paid $10 a week or less), and workers outside the employer's trade or business unless the employer elects them.

Out-of-state employers with employees working in Wisconsin need a policy from a Wisconsin-licensed insurer that lists Wisconsin in Item 3A.

Where coverage comes from

About 300 insurers are licensed to write workers' comp in Wisconsin, and you buy through an agent or directly from a company. The other option is self-insurance, granted by DWD to an employer that shows the financial ability to pay claims; DWD may require security. DWD's guidance says self-insuring is not practical when annual workers' comp premium is under $200,000, unless there are unusual circumstances.

Who sets rates

A committee of actuaries from WCRB member insurers picks the methods and trends each year, and OCI reviews and approves the result. OCI approved an overall rate level decrease of 1.97% for new and renewal policies effective October 1, 2026, per WCRB Circular Letter 3273 (July 21, 2026). DWD calls it the 11th straight annual decline. Contracting classes fell 4.91% on average.

The same filing kept the expense constant at $220 per policy and the maximum minimum premium at $900. It also left TRIA terrorism charges at a choice of $0.00, $0.01 or $0.02 per $100 of payroll ($0.02 on pool policies).

Contractors may also qualify for the Wisconsin Contractor's Premium Adjustment Program (WCPAP), a premium credit run by the WCRB. It requires at least 50% of payroll or premium in contracting classes and an average hourly wage of at least $35.37 for credits effective July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027.

Experience rating

The WCRB issues mods under the Wisconsin Experience Rating Plan, and employers can look up their worksheet through its Find My Mod tool. The eligibility threshold dropped from $7,500 to $7,250 effective October 1, 2026. A risk qualifies when its last one or two years of exposure produce at least twice that amount at current manual rates, or when more than two years produce an annual average of at least that amount.

If no insurer will write you

The Wisconsin Worker's Compensation Insurance Pool covers employers who cannot find coverage in the voluntary market. The WCRB is its administrator and trustee and assigns a servicing carrier. You can apply through an agent or directly with the WCRB. Pool policies use the same rules, rates, classes and mods as the voluntary market, but premium discounts and dividends do not apply. Employers who owe the pool for past policies are not eligible.

Penalties for going uninsured

Wisconsin layers several consequences:

• Uninsured Employers Fund payments. For a first or second finding, you pay DWD the greater of twice the premium you would have paid over the prior three years or $750. Repeat findings rise to three or four times the premium, with floors of $3,000 and $4,000. A first lapse of seven days or less with no injury is $100 a day instead.
• Reimbursement. You repay any benefits the Uninsured Employers Fund paid your injured worker, plus claim expenses, with 1% monthly interest on late amounts.
• Court forfeitures. A first violation costs the greater of $1,000 or the premium that would have been owed, plus an uninsured employer surcharge equal to 75% of that forfeiture.
• Closure. DWD can order you to cease operations. Violating that order is a Class I felony.
• Personal liability. If an award against an uninsured corporation goes unpaid, its officers and directors are jointly liable for the balance.

Your ongoing obligations

• Report injuries. Report a work-related death to DWD within 24 hours. Report any injury claim to your insurer within 7 days. For injuries with more than 3 days of lost time, your insurer files the First Report of Injury with DWD within 14 days.
• Do not charge workers. You may not withhold money from employees, contractors or subcontractors to pay for coverage.
• Policy notices. An insurer must give you and DWD 60 days' written notice before a nonrenewal, and 30 days' notice before a cancellation for other reasons.
• Tell the truth about coverage. Giving false coverage information to employees, DWD or a contracting party, or failing to tell a contracting party that your coverage was canceled, carries a forfeiture of $100 to $1,000 for early violations.

Worked example: how the calculator estimates premium

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

WCRB Circular Letter 3273 lists a rate of 12.789 per $100 of payroll for class 5551 (Roofing all kinds and drivers), with a $900 minimum premium, effective October 1, 2026. This is a full manual rate that every Wisconsin carrier must charge, not a loss cost, so no multiplier is applied. The payroll and mod are hypothetical.

• Hypothetical roofing payroll: $250,000
• WCRB manual rate (October 1, 2026): 12.789
• Hypothetical experience mod: 0.95

Step by step

1. Payroll in hundreds: $250,000 / 100 = 2,500
2. Manual premium: 2,500 x 12.789 = $31,972.50
3. Apply the mod: $31,972.50 x 0.95 = $30,373.88

The calculator stops there. The $220 expense constant would bring this to $30,593.88 before premium discount, WCPAP credit, terrorism charge or other adjustments.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

• Wisconsin DWD, Worker's Compensation Employer Resources
• Wisconsin DWD, How to Buy Worker's Compensation Insurance
• Wisconsin DWD, Corporations and Corporate Officers
• Wisconsin DWD, Sole Proprietors, Partners and LLC Members
• Wisconsin DWD, Farmers
• Wisconsin DWD, Independent Contractors
• Wisconsin DWD, Out of State Employers
• Wisconsin DWD, Handling Work Injuries and Illness
• Wisconsin DWD, Considerations for Self Insurance
• Wisconsin DWD, press release, October 1, 2026
• Wisconsin OCI, Guide to Worker's Compensation Insurance for Employers (PI-065)
• Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 102 (ss. 102.04, 102.07, 102.16, 102.28, 102.31, 102.82, 102.85)
• WCRB, General Circular Letter 3273, October 1, 2026 Rate Revision
• WCRB, Miscellaneous Values Table
• WCRB, Frequently Asked Questions
• WCRB, WCPAP Application Instructions

Sources accessed 2026-10-17.

This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm details with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Worker's Compensation Division.

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