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Ohio business insurance: requirements and costs

Ohio is one of the few states where private insurers cannot sell workers' compensation: employers pay the Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC) state insurance fund or qualify as self-insuring employers.⁠1⁠2⁠4 Coverage is required once you regularly employ one person, with no separate construction threshold.⁠1 BWC set new private-employer base rates for the payroll period starting July 1, 2026, and an experience modification multiplies them for most employers.⁠5⁠6

Checked against 11 sources Last reviewed How we check figures

Ohio at a glance

Workers’ comp required1+ regularly employed; no separate construction threshold
Where employers buy itState fund only (monopolistic) (Ohio BWC State Insurance Fund)
Rates set byNone (the BWC administrator sets state fund rates)
Employer comp cost, 2023$0.58 per $100 of covered wages (US $0.98)
Comp rate index, 2024$0.68, ranked 47 of 51 (1 = most expensive)
Employer health premium, 2025$8,804 single, $24,661 family (average total premium)
Auto liability minimum25/50/25

There is no rating bureau and no competing carrier in Ohio comp. The administrator of workers' compensation, with the advice and consent of the BWC board of directors, sets private-employer class base rates per $100 of payroll by administrative rule; rule 4123-17-06 sets them effective July 1, 2026.⁠5 An employer's premium rate is the base rate for each of its classes unless it is experience rated, in which case the rate is its experience modification (EM) multiplied by the base rate.⁠6 Our calculation shows the scale: $500,000 of carpentry payroll (class 5403, base rate $1.7131 per $100) costs $8,565.50 at an EM of 1.00, and $6,852.40 at an assumed EM of 0.80. The EM here is an example, not a figure for any real employer. Private insurers cannot cover the comp liability itself: Ohio law voids contracts that insure an employer against it, with narrow exceptions such as excess indemnity for a self-insurer.⁠4

The official cost data place Ohio well below the national figure. NASI estimates that Ohio employers spent $0.58 per $100 of covered wages on comp in 2023, against $0.98 nationally, 59% of the national level by our calculation. Ohio's figure fell 17% from $0.70 in 2019, close to the 16% national decline over the same years (our calculation).⁠8 Oregon's study of manual rates in effect January 1, 2024 puts Ohio 47th of 51 jurisdictions at an index of $0.68 per $100 of payroll, 63% of the median state (Georgia, $1.09).⁠9 Employer health costs are mixed. In AHRQ's 2025 survey, 34.0% of Ohio private-sector establishments in firms with fewer than 50 employees offered health insurance, against 32.1% nationally. Where they did, the average single premium was $8,379, about 7% below the $9,034 small-firm national figure (our calculation), but employees paid an average of $2,206 of it, against $1,924.⁠10

Three Ohio rules decide what a business actually carries. First, a business that skips BWC coverage loses its workers' comp immunity: an injured employee can sue it for damages without the fellow-servant, assumption-of-risk or contributory-negligence defenses.⁠3 Second, Ohio law voids insurance of comp liability, so the BWC fund and self-insurance are the only routes for statutory comp.⁠4 Third, Ohio is a tort state for auto: no personal injury protection is required, and the owner's-policy minimums in s. 4509.51 are unchanged since December 22, 2013.⁠7 A contractor also takes on risk from subs: workers of a subcontractor that has not paid its state fund premium are treated as the contractor's employees.⁠1

Workers’ compensation in Ohio

A private employer that regularly employs one or more persons under a contract of hire must cover them through the BWC state fund or self-insurance. Household workers who earn $160 or more in cash in a calendar quarter from a single household count as employees.⁠1⁠2

Who is exempt

  • Partners, sole proprietors, individuals incorporated as a corporation and officers of a family farm corporation are not employees unless the employer elects to include them by written notice to BWC
  • Household and casual workers below the statutory earnings threshold are outside the definition of employee

Buying coverage and who sets the rates

Employers pay premiums into the BWC state insurance fund, or apply to BWC to become a self-insuring employer. Private insurers cannot sell the coverage.⁠2⁠4

Latest rate decision (1 Jul 2026): BWC rule 4123-17-06 sets private-employer class base rates per $100 of payroll effective July 1, 2026, for the payroll period July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. The BWC board approved an average 1% premium cut for private employers (a trade-press report of the board's February 2026 vote).⁠5⁠11 Official notice.

BWC may grant self-insuring status to an employer with sufficient financial and administrative ability. Factors include at least two years of operation in Ohio (which the administrator may waive) and certified financial records covering the current and previous four years.⁠2

Ohio’s state fund publishes its full rate schedule as public law: look up every Ohio class rate or try the premium calculator.

Penalties for going without

A private employer that does not comply with s. 4123.35 loses the benefits of the workers' comp chapters during the period of noncompliance. It is liable to injured employees for damages and cannot use the fellow-servant, assumption-of-risk or contributory-negligence defenses.⁠3

What Ohio employers pay

Employer workers’ compensation costs per $100 of covered wages, 2019–2023
YearOhioUnited States
2019$0.70$1.17
2020$0.65$1.08
2021$0.65$1.01
2022$0.61$1.00
2023$0.58$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 Ohio’s index for rates in effect on 1 January 2024 at $0.68 per $100 of payroll, 37% below the national median of $1.09 (rank 47 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 Ohio

Average annual premium per enrolled employee at private-sector employers, 2025
MeasureOhioFirms under 50United States
Single coverage, total premium$8,804$8,379$9,025
Family coverage, total premium$24,661$20,726$26,281
Employee share, single$2,016–$1,817
Employers offering coverage54.0%34.0%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 Ohio

Every vehicle registered in Ohio, 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.

Section 4509.51 sets only liability limits: $25,000 for bodily injury or death of one person, $50,000 for two or more persons and $25,000 for property damage per accident. The section has been current since December 22, 2013.⁠7

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 Ohio rules that affect insurance costs

Contractors answer for unpaid subcontractors

Workers of an independent contractor or subcontractor who has failed to pay its premium to the state insurance fund are considered employees of the person who contracted with it, unless they elect to pursue the contractor or sub after an injury.⁠1 Collect proof of BWC coverage from each sub.

Experience rating changes your rate

An experience-rated employer's rate for each class is its experience modification times the class base rate. The EM compares actual losses in the experience period with expected losses and credits the employer's own experience by credibility.⁠6

Ohio compared with its neighbors

Workers’ comp and health insurance costs, Ohio and neighboring states
Ohio$0.58$0.68$8,804
Pennsylvania$1.08$1.14$9,421
West Virginia$1.05$0.54$8,878
Kentucky$0.73$0.76$8,936
Indiana$0.57$0.71$8,355
Michigan$0.56$0.90$8,230

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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