Methodology

Four kinds of figures

• Official statistics. Figures from government statistical programs and research bodies that publish their methods: the Bureau of Labor Statistics, AHRQ’s Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the National Academy of Social Insurance, Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services and the NAIC. They describe whole populations of employers or insurers, not a quote for one business.
• Regulator-approved rates and loss costs. Workers’ compensation rates set by a state fund (Ohio, Washington, Wyoming) or loss costs and rate changes approved by a state regulator. A rate is a price per $100 of payroll (per hour in Washington) for one class of work, before your own adjustments.
• Insurer- and broker-reported figures. Medians and averages that insurers and online brokers publish about their own customers. They are the only public cost figures for general liability, business owner’s policies, professional liability, cyber and most other coverages. We name the company, quote whether the figure is a median or an average, give the period and the page date, and show several companies side by side.
• Our calculations. Where we derive a number, such as a percentage change or a premium in a worked example, we say so and show the inputs.

We do not publish modeled “average costs” that cannot be traced to a published figure, and we do not adjust one state’s or industry’s figure by a flat percentage to fill a gap. Where no figure exists, we say so.

Why insurer figures disagree

Two published “average costs” for the same coverage can differ by a factor of two or more without either being wrong. A median is the middle policy and sits well below an average, which a few large policies pull up. Customers of an online broker are mostly very small businesses buying basic limits; a carrier’s customers may include larger firms with higher limits. Some figures are monthly, others annual; some include only policies bought online. Each coverage page sets the figures side by side and explains these differences rather than picking one.

Datasets

Each page lists the specific sources it relies on, with the date we last checked each one.

Workers’ compensation rates

In most states a rating bureau (the NCCI or an independent state bureau) files loss costs, and each insurer multiplies them by its own approved factor, so there is no single public price list. The bureaus’ class-by-class tables are copyrighted and their terms do not allow republication. We therefore publish complete class rate tables only where the state itself issues them as public law or government data: Ohio, Washington and Wyoming, whose state funds are the only workers’ compensation insurers. For other states we report the state-level figures and the latest approved rate decisions, with links to the official tables.

How pages are checked

Each page is researched from its sources and then checked by a separate reviewer who re-opens every source and confirms every figure, date, rule and citation, correcting or removing anything the source does not support. Tables built from datasets are generated directly from the verified data files, so the same figure cannot appear differently on two pages.

Update schedule

• Every page: re-checked at least every 90 days.
• Market trend indexes (CIAB, Ivans, Marsh): each quarter, when released.
• BLS employer costs: each quarter. NASI workers’ comp costs: each August. AHRQ MEPS-IC: each summer. Oregon rate ranking: every two years.
• State workers’ comp rate decisions: as each takes effect (many on 1 January; California on 1 September; New York on 1 October; Ohio on 1 July).
• State paid-leave and disability contribution rates: each January.

Limits

Published averages describe groups of businesses. Your premium depends on your class of business, payroll or revenue, location, claims history, limits, deductibles and the insurer. Use the figures to budget and to check whether a quote is in a normal range; only an insurer can quote your price.