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Oregon business insurance: requirements and costs

Oregon requires workers' compensation coverage from the first subject worker, part-time included, and employers can buy it from the state-created SAIF Corporation or from private insurers.⁠1 The state's advisory pure premium rates are set by the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS), and DCBS has proposed an average 2.1% increase for 2027.⁠2⁠8 Oregon's own 2024 ranking put it 38th most expensive of 51 jurisdictions, at 82% of the median.⁠6

Checked against 8 sources Last reviewed How we check figures

Oregon at a glance

Workers’ comp required1+ subject worker, part-time included
Where employers buy itPrivate insurers and a competitive state fund (SAIF Corporation)
Rates set byOregon DCBS, after reviewing NCCI’s recommendation
Employer comp cost, 2023$0.97 per $100 of covered wages (US $0.98)
Comp rate index, 2024$0.89, ranked 38 of 51 (1 = most expensive)
Employer health premium, 2025$9,225 single, $27,182 family (average total premium)
Auto liability minimum25/50/20
Payroll insurance programsPaid Leave Oregon

Oregon's comp market is competitive rather than monopolistic. SAIF is an independent public corporation created by statute, and private insurers write the same coverage.⁠1 An employer may also self-insure, with security of no less than $100,000 for an individual employer, or join a self-insured employer group.⁠1 Employers that cannot get voluntary coverage fall into an assigned risk plan under ORS 656.730.⁠1 DCBS decides the advisory pure premium rate each year after reviewing NCCI's recommendation; it is the loss-cost part of the price, and insurers add their own expense loads and multipliers, so two carriers can quote the same class differently.⁠2

The most recent rate news is a proposal, not an order. DCBS reports that it has proposed an average 2.1% increase in the 2027 pure premium rate, driven by Senate Bill 1519 (2026), which changed weekly lost-time benefits for workers with disabling claims. DCBS says the pure premium would still be 36.5% lower than in 2018, and that the average cost of coverage, including insurer expense, profit and assessments, would rise from 89 to 92 cents per $100 of payroll.⁠8 Those are DCBS figures for the proposal; confirm the adopted rate before budgeting. The longer record agrees on direction. NASI estimates Oregon employers spent $0.97 per $100 of covered wages in 2023, down from $1.02 in 2019, which is a 4.4% fall by our calculation, against $0.98 nationally in 2023.⁠5 The 2024 DCBS ranking, which prices the same 50 risk classes using each state's manual rates, gives Oregon an index of $0.89 per $100 of payroll.⁠6

Health costs and leave obligations add to the total. In AHRQ's 2025 survey, 33.0% of Oregon 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 $8,594, about 5% below the $9,034 small-firm national figure by our calculation, and the employee's share averaged $1,448 against $1,924.⁠7 Separately, Paid Leave Oregon contributions are 1% of gross wages up to $184,500 in 2026. Employers with 25 or more employees on average pay 40% of that, 0.4%, and withhold 0.6% from employees. Smaller employers pay no employer share.⁠3 The employer's own liability for noncompliance with comp is steep: a civil penalty of up to the greater of $1,000 or twice the premium that would have been due for the period without coverage.⁠1

Workers’ compensation in Oregon

Every employer with one or more subject workers in Oregon must carry coverage.⁠1 Members of a limited liability company with more than one member are subject workers while doing construction work, unless the company is licensed with the Construction Contractors Board or the Landscape Contractors Board and they hold a substantial ownership interest: then up to two members (or one per 10 employees) may be exempt, and all members may be if they are one family.⁠1

Who is exempt

  • Domestic servants in or about a private home
  • Sole proprietors, with exceptions for licensed contractors; employment not in the course of the employer's trade, business or profession (casual labor)⁠1

Buying coverage and who sets the rates

Buy from SAIF Corporation, a private insurer, or qualify to self-insure or join a self-insured employer group; the assigned risk plan is the last resort.⁠1

Individual self-insurance requires security of no less than $100,000; self-insured employer groups are allowed.⁠1

Penalties for going without

Civil penalty of not more than $1,000 or twice the premium that would have been due for the period of noncompliance, whichever is greater.⁠1

What Oregon employers pay

Employer workers’ compensation costs per $100 of covered wages, 2019–2023
YearOregonUnited States
2019$1.02$1.17
2020$0.93$1.08
2021$0.96$1.01
2022$0.95$1.00
2023$0.97$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 Oregon’s index for rates in effect on 1 January 2024 at $0.89 per $100 of payroll, 18% below the national median of $1.09 (rank 38 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.

Disability and paid leave insurance

Oregon runs a payroll-funded program that employers must register for, fund or insure on top of workers’ compensation.

Oregon disability and paid leave programs, 2026
Program2026 contributionEmployer’s part
Paid Leave Oregon1% of gross wages up to $184,500 (2026)Employers with 25+ employees on average pay 40% of the 1% (0.4%) and employees 60%; employers with fewer than 25 pay no employer share.⁠3

Employer health insurance in Oregon

Average annual premium per enrolled employee at private-sector employers, 2025
MeasureOregonFirms under 50United States
Single coverage, total premium$9,225$8,594$9,025
Family coverage, total premium$27,182$21,815$26,281
Employee share, single$1,499–$1,817
Employers offering coverage46.0%33.0%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 Oregon

Every vehicle registered in Oregon, including business vehicles, must carry at least 25/50/20 in liability limits (bodily injury per person / per accident / property damage, in thousands of dollars). Official source.

Minimums under ORS 806.070: $25,000 bodily injury per person, $50,000 per accident for two or more persons, and $20,000 property damage per accident.⁠4

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.

Oregon compared with its neighbors

Workers’ comp and health insurance costs, Oregon and neighboring states
Oregon$0.97$0.89$9,225
Washington$1.17$1.35$8,712
Idaho$1.34$1.10$8,770
Nevada$0.87$0.73$8,215
California$1.43$1.86$9,162

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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