Arkansas Workers’ Comp Rates Among the Lowest in the Nation

Arkansas has one of the lowest workers’ compensation premium rates in the nation, at $1.18 per $100 of payroll, according to a new study conducted by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services. Oklahoma and Texas rank among the costliest states, and Louisiana landed in the middle in Oregon’s 2010 workers’ compensation premium rate index.

North Dakota has the lowest premium rate of all states and the District of Columbia at $1.02 per $100 of payroll. Oklahoma, with $2.86 per $100 of payroll, ranked No. 4, up from the No. 9 position in 2008. Texans pay $2.38 per $100 of payroll and Louisiana employers pay $2.06 per $100 for workers’ comp coverage.

The national median rate index peaked in 1994 at $4.35 and reached a low point in 2000 at $2.26. It increased to $2.58 per $100 of payroll in 2004 and has decreased each study since, now to $2.04 in 2010, an all-time low.

The workers’ comp rate study used classification codes from the National Council of Compensation Insurance. Premium rate indices were calculated using data from 51 jurisdictions, based on rates in effect as of Jan. 1, 2010.