How Much Are Workers' Compensation Benefits in Texas?

Learn how Texas law calculates workers' comp benefits when you're out of work or earn less because of your work-related injury.

By , Attorney · University of San Francisco School of Law

If your Texas employer has workers' compensation insurance, you should be eligible to receive benefits for an on-the-job injury or illness through the state's workers' comp program.

These benefits are intended to help you get proper medical care, compensate you for some of your financial losses, and help you get back to work. Below is a summary of the benefits provided under Texas law. (To get these benefits, you'll first need to file a Texas workers' compensation claim.)

Medical Workers' Comp Benefits

Workers' comp pays for all necessary medical treatment for a work injury, as long as it's been recommended or approved by your treating doctor. (For more information, see our article on how to get medical treatment through workers' comp.)

How Much Are Temporary Income Workers' Comp Benefits in Texas?

If you have to miss work while recovering from your injury, or your injury keeps you from earning your usual wages, you may be able to collect temporary income benefits.

Texas calculates these benefits under a formula: 70% of the difference between your average weekly wages and the wages you are able to earn after your injury, or 75% of the difference if you earned less than $10 an hour.

Example: If you earned $15 an hour before your injury ($600 per week) and you aren't able to work at all, the difference between your pre- and post-injury wages is $600; you would receive $420 per week (70% of $600) in temporary income benefits.

State law sets upper and lower limits on these benefits. The maximum and minimum amounts depend on when you were injured (or, for occupational illnesses, when you started receiving benefits). For injuries taking place between October 2023 and September 2024, the maximum is $1,174 per week and the minimum is $176.

Temporary income benefits won't kick in until after the first week of missed work, unless you ultimately have to miss two weeks or more. These benefits last until the earliest of the following events:

  • your doctor says that your medical condition isn't likely to improve, even with further medical treatment (a stage called "maximum medical improvement")
  • you're able to return to your normal job at the same wages, or
  • you've received temporary income benefits for 104 weeks.

Texas allows an extension of the 104-week limit if you have (or will have) spinal surgery within 12 weeks before the deadline.

Once you have reached maximum medical improvement, your doctor will evaluate you to determine whether your work injury has left you with a permanent loss of function or limitation (called an "impairment").

If so, the doctor will rate the severity your impairment from 1% to 99%. You'll be eligible to receive benefits for a period of time determined by your impairment rating: three weeks for each percentage point. In Texas, these payments are called impairment income benefits (commonly known as partial permanent disability benefits in many other states).

The weekly benefit amount will be 70% of your average weekly wage before the injury. Here again, there are limits. For injuries that happened in fiscal year 2024, the upper limit for impairment income benefits is $822.

Example: You earned $600 per week before your injury and receive a 20% impairment rating. You will receive $420 per week (70% of $600) for 60 weeks (3 weeks x 20).

Texas Workers' Comp: How Much Are Supplemental Income Benefits?

After your impairment income benefits have run out, you may be able to receive supplemental income benefits if you meet all of the qualifications:

  • your permanent impairment rating was 15% or higher
  • you still aren't able to return to work or earn at least 80% of your previous wages
  • you didn't choose to receive your impairment income benefits in a lump sum
  • you're actively looking for work or participating in vocational rehabilitation (more on that below), and
  • you reapply every three months, with documentation to show that you're eligible.

As long as you qualify, you can receive supplemental income benefits for up to 401 weeks. To calculate the weekly benefit amount, take the difference between 80% of your pre-injury wage before your injury and your post-injury wages. You will receive 80% of that amount, subject to the same maximum and minimum as impairment income benefits.

Example: Suppose you have a permanent impairment rating of 30%. You used to earn $600 per week before your injury, but now you earn $200 per week. Subtract $200 from $480 (80% of your pre-injury wage) to get $280; you will receive 80% of $280, or $244 per week.

Lifetime Income Benefits for Total Disability

Texas also allows lifetime income benefits, but only for a few very severe types of impairments:

  • amputation or totally lost use of both hands or feet, or one of each
  • a spinal injury that caused permanent paralysis in both arms, legs, or one of each
  • complete blindness
  • a traumatic brain injury that resulted in a severe, incurable mental impairment, or
  • third degree burns that cover at least 40% of the body and require a skin graft, or that cover most of both hands or a hand and face.

Lifetime income benefits are 75% of your pre-injury average weekly wage, with the same maximum and minimum as temporary income benefits. Unlike other types of benefits, however, lifetime income benefits are increased 3% every year, regardless of the maximum.

Other Workers' Comp Benefits in Texas

In addition to compensation for medical treatment and part of your wage loss, Texas also provides other types of workers' comp benefits, including:

  • Medical travel expenses. You can receive reimbursement for travel expenses to get medical treatment, as long as it's more than 30 miles away from your home and treatment at a closer location wasn't available. If you have to attend medical exams that far away, you can also receive mileage for that travel.
  • Vocational rehabilitation. If you can't return to your normal job, even after you've reached maximum medical improvement, you may be referred to a vocational rehabilitation program, where you can get training and assistance finding a new job.
  • Death Benefits. When an employee dies as a result of a work-related injury or illness, Texas workers' comp will pay death benefits to the the surviving spouse, children, or other eligible family members for a certain period of time, depending on the survivor's relationship to the deceased. The benefits will be 75% of the deceased employees pre-injury wage, up to the same maximum as temporary income benefits. Workers' comp will also pay up to $10,000 for burial expenses.

Limitations of Workers' Comp Benefits

As you can see, there are limits to workers' comp benefits: you'll receive only a portion of your lost wages (although it may help to learn that workers' comp benefits are generally tax-free). In addition, you can't receive any payment for the pain and suffering related to your injury.

This is part of the trade-off of the workers' comp system: You can receive benefits relatively quickly without having to prove that your employer was at fault for your injury, but you won't be fully compensated for all of your losses.

Texas is one of the only states that don't require private employers to participate in the workers' compensation system. If your employer opted out by not carrying workers' comp insurance, you can sue for your injury in court.

While this is usually a longer and more involved process, you can receive the full value of your wage loss and pain and suffering. To learn more, see our personal injury page. And if your employer has chosen to participate in the Texas workers' comp system, an experienced workers' comp lawyer can help make sure that you get all of the benefits you deserve.

To learn more, see our article on when you may need to hire a workers' comp attorney.

Make the Most of Your Claim
Get the compensation you deserve.
We've helped 265 clients find attorneys today.
There was a problem with the submission. Please refresh the page and try again
Full Name is required
Email is required
Please enter a valid Email
Phone Number is required
Please enter a valid Phone Number
Zip Code is required
Please add a valid Zip Code
Please enter a valid Case Description
Description is required

How It Works

  1. Briefly tell us about your case
  2. Provide your contact information
  3. Choose attorneys to contact you