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Mississippi business insurance: requirements and costs

Mississippi is a five-employee workers' comp state: an employer that regularly has five or more workers must carry workers' comp, and smaller employers may cover voluntarily.⁠6 NCCI's advisory loss costs for the voluntary market fell 7.9% for policies effective on or after March 1, 2026, and assigned-risk rates fell 9.9%.⁠1⁠2 Mississippi's 2025 average job-based health premiums were the lowest of all 50 states and DC in AHRQ's survey: $7,612 for single coverage and $21,932 for family coverage.⁠9

Checked against 12 sources Last reviewed How we check figures

Mississippi at a glance

Workers’ comp required5+ regularly employed workers; under 5 may cover voluntarily
Where employers buy itPrivate insurers
Rates set byNational Council on Compensation Insurance
Employer comp cost, 2023$0.91 per $100 of covered wages (US $0.98)
Comp rate index, 2024$0.94, ranked 34 of 51 (1 = most expensive)
Employer health premium, 2025$7,612 single, $21,932 family (average total premium)
Auto liability minimum25/50/25

Workers' comp in Mississippi is sold only by private insurers. There is no state fund. The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) is the licensed rating organization that files advisory loss costs for the voluntary market and full rates for the Assigned Risk Plan, the pool for employers no insurer will write voluntarily.⁠2 A loss cost covers expected claims and loss-adjustment expense only. Each insurer files its own loss cost multiplier (LCM) with the Mississippi Insurance Department to add its expenses and profit, so two carriers can price the same payroll in the same class differently.⁠2⁠3 Claims and coverage compliance are handled by a separate body, the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission.⁠6

The March 1, 2026 filing is the second cut in a row. NCCI filed a 4.6% voluntary decrease for March 1, 2025.⁠12 For 2026 it filed a 7.9% voluntary decrease and a 9.9% assigned-risk decrease, and the Department's November 2025 filing bulletin lists the filing at an overall 7.9% decrease for new and renewal policies from March 1, 2026.⁠1⁠2 The filing used policy years 2021 through 2023. NCCI pointed to a long-term decline in lost-time claim frequency, flat indemnity cost per lost-time claim and a long-term downward trend in medical costs. It also priced in the medical fee schedule effective October 1, 2024. The wider gap for assigned-risk rates came mainly from a smaller assigned-risk differential.⁠2 Insurers did not all pass the cut through. Bulletins from December 2025 and January 2026 record carriers that revised their LCMs, for overall increases of 6.8% (Protective and Sagamore, where only Protective revised its LCM), 5.7% (Security National and affiliated companies) and 4.2% (Forestry Mutual) from March 1, 2026.⁠3⁠4 Others moved the other way. For September 1, 2026, Prescient National cut its LCM from 1.900 to 1.450 for a 23.7% decrease, and the Brierfield/FCCI group filed a 2.4% decrease.⁠4⁠5

The official cost measures put Mississippi near the middle on workers' comp. NASI estimates employers spent $0.91 per $100 of covered wages on comp in 2023, against $0.98 nationally and $1.15 in Mississippi in 2019. By our calculation, that is a 21% fall over four years.⁠7 Oregon's 2024 premium rate ranking, which prices the same 50 classes in every state, gives Mississippi an index of $0.94, 86% of the median state, ranked 34th from the top.⁠8 Within the region, Louisiana ($1.41, 9th) and Alabama ($1.11, 24th) rank higher, while Tennessee ($0.80) and Arkansas ($0.53, 50th) rank lower.⁠8 Group health is where Mississippi stands out. In AHRQ's 2025 survey, the average single premium was $7,612, against $9,025 nationally, and the family premium was $21,932, against $26,281.⁠9 Only 28.2% of firms with fewer than 50 employees offered coverage, against 32.1% nationally. Workers at small firms that offered family coverage paid an average of $8,694 of an $18,158 premium, about 48% by our calculation. The national small-firm figure is $7,760 of $24,176, or about 32%.⁠9

NCCI had not posted a Mississippi filing summary for March 1, 2027 when this page was checked. Vehicle liability minimums have stayed at 25/50/25 since January 1, 2006.⁠10

For an employer the practical points are these. First, apply the 7.9% to the loss-cost part of your premium, not to your bill. If an insurer applies the same LCM and your class moved with the state average, $10,000 of loss-cost premium becomes $9,210 (our calculation). An LCM increase like those filed for March 2026 can erase that saving.⁠1⁠3 Second, the five-employee test counts workers regularly employed, so check it before you hire your fifth person.⁠6 Third, contractors face an insurance rule of their own. The State Board of Contractors will not license or renew a contractor without proof of general liability coverage, and commercial licensees need limits of at least $300,000 per occurrence and $600,000 aggregate.⁠11

Workers’ compensation in Mississippi

Every employer with five or more workers regularly employed must carry workers' comp.⁠6 Employers with fewer than five employees may cover voluntarily.⁠6

Who is exempt

  • Employers with fewer than five regular employees (coverage is voluntary)

Buying coverage and who sets the rates

Employers buy from a private insurer licensed in Mississippi. Insurers price from NCCI advisory loss costs times their own filed loss cost multiplier.⁠2⁠3 Employers that cannot get voluntary coverage go to the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Assigned Risk Plan, whose full rates NCCI files.⁠2

Latest rate decision (1 Mar 2026): NCCI annual filing for new and renewal policies on or after March 1, 2026: voluntary advisory loss costs -7.9% and assigned-risk rates -9.9%. The Mississippi Insurance Department's November 2025 filing bulletin records an overall 7.9% decrease. It follows a -4.6% voluntary filing for March 1, 2025. Official notice.

Penalties for going without

Mississippi's Workers' Compensation Commission enforces the coverage requirement. We could not open the statute text, so we do not state the penalty amounts here; check Miss. Code Ann. § 71-3-83 or ask the Commission.

What Mississippi employers pay

Employer workers’ compensation costs per $100 of covered wages, 2019–2023
YearMississippiUnited States
2019$1.15$1.17
2020$1.05$1.08
2021$1.03$1.01
2022$0.97$1.00
2023$0.91$0.98

Employer cost per $100 of covered wages: premiums paid by insured employers plus benefits and administrative costs of self-insured employers, divided by the wages of workers covered by workers’ compensation. The United States figure is NASI’s national total, which includes federal programs. Source: National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), published 11 Aug 2026.

Oregon’s biennial comparison of workers’ comp rates puts Mississippi’s index for rates in effect on 1 January 2024 at $0.94 per $100 of payroll, 14% below the national median of $1.09 (rank 34 of 51, where 1 is the most expensive). The index prices the same 50 risk classes, weighted by Oregon payroll, in every state, so it compares rate levels rather than what employers actually pay. Compare every state.

Employer health insurance in Mississippi

Average annual premium per enrolled employee at private-sector employers, 2025
MeasureMississippiFirms under 50United States
Single coverage, total premium$7,612$7,477$9,025
Family coverage, total premium$21,932$18,158$26,281
Employee share, single$1,716–$1,817
Employers offering coverage52.4%28.2%49.2%

Average total annual premium per enrolled employee at private-sector establishments that offer health insurance; the offer rate is the share of establishments offering coverage. Small firms have fewer than 50 employees. Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, 2025 survey year. All states.

Commercial auto in Mississippi

Every vehicle registered in Mississippi, including business vehicles, must carry at least 25/50/25 in liability limits (bodily injury per person / per accident / property damage, in thousands of dollars). Official source.

Unchanged since Jan. 1, 2006. Tort state with no PIP requirement. Failing to keep proof of insurance carries an initial $1,000 penalty and a one-year suspension of driving privileges or until proof is shown.

Trucks and buses used in interstate commerce must also meet federal minimums of $750,000 to $5 million: see commercial auto minimums and what commercial auto costs.

Other Mississippi rules that affect insurance costs

Contractor licenses require general liability

A State Board of Contractors license is required for commercial jobs over $50,000, new residential construction over $50,000, and residential remodeling or roofing over $10,000.⁠11 Every applicant and renewal must show general liability coverage. Commercial licensees need at least $300,000 per occurrence and $600,000 aggregate, with the Board named on the policy for cancellation notice.⁠11 An active license lapses from good standing without proof of liability coverage, so a contractor between jobs either keeps the policy or moves to inactive status.⁠11

Insurer rate filings are public

The Insurance Department publishes a monthly bulletin of approved property and casualty rate filings, giving each company's overall change and effective dates.⁠1⁠3⁠5 For workers' comp, it shows whether your insurer raised or cut its loss cost multiplier when the NCCI loss costs changed. Increases of 4.2% to 6.8% and decreases of 2.4% to 23.7% were filed around the 2026 loss-cost cut.⁠3⁠4⁠5 Full company filings can be searched in SERFF Filing Access.

Mississippi compared with its neighbors

Workers’ comp and health insurance costs, Mississippi and neighboring states
Mississippi$0.91$0.94$7,612
Louisiana$1.27$1.41$8,806
Arkansas$0.57$0.53$7,804
Tennessee$0.60$0.80$8,667
Alabama$0.85$1.11$8,169

Sources

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National figures: NASI (employer comp costs), Oregon DCBS (rate index), AHRQ MEPS-IC (health premiums).

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Other states

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