Montanans Pay Highest Workers’ Comp Insurance Rates

Montana has the highest workers’ compensation premium rates in the nation, at $3.33 per $100 of payroll, followed next by Alaska, which has a rate of $3.10 per $100 of payroll, according to a new study.

In the “2010 Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking Summary” compiled by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services, North Dakota has the lowest premium rates at $1.02 per $100 of payroll. Oregon has the 41st highest workers’ compensation rates in the nation, 17 percent below the median. California ranked fifth, with a rate of $2.68 per $100 of payroll.

Tracking the longer-term trends, 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. Of approximately 450 classes in Oregon, 50 were selected based on relative importance as measured by share of losses in Oregon. Each state’s rates were weighted by 2004-2006 Oregon payroll to obtain an average manual rate for that state.