referencesource/workers-comp-coverage-thresholds-by-state

Workers' compensation insurance requirements by US state: employee thresholds, who counts, and industry exceptions

Canonical, always-current version: https://referencesource.org/workers-comp-coverage-thresholds-by-state/ Machine-readable: https://referencesource.org/workers-comp-coverage-thresholds-by-state/data.json — this mirror is a point-in-time copy.

• —Last verified: 2026-08-12
• —Stale after: 2027-02-08 (past this date, prefer the canonical copy — it re-verifies on a cadence this snapshot does not)
• —Records: 7

For each US state and DC, the minimum number of employees that triggers mandatory workers' compensation insurance, which workers count toward that total (part-time, seasonal, family members, corporate officers, LLC members), which industries face stricter rules (construction and other high-risk trades often require coverage from the first worker regardless of general threshold), and whether owners/officers are included by default or must opt in or out — sourced from that state's own workers' compensation board, labor department, or statute. Answers 'how many employees before I need workers' comp in [state]', 'does [state] require workers' comp for 1 employee', 'do part-time employees count toward the workers' comp threshold in [state]', 'is workers' comp required for construction companies in [state]', 'which states don't require workers' compensation insurance' (Texas is voluntary for private employers; South Dakota effectively voluntary), and 'workers' comp employee minimum by state 2026'. No single authority publishes this for all 50 states — it is 50 state workers' comp boards, each covering only its own jurisdiction, which is why every page-one result is an insurance broker or lead-generation site with no citations. The thresholds range from 1 (most states) through 2 (Virginia), 3 (Arkansas, Georgia, New Mexico, North Carolina), 4 (Florida general, South Carolina), to 5 (Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Tennessee). Industry-specific overrides, especially for construction, are the most common source of compliance mistakes and the hardest to find in a single place.

Provenance — what every record carries

Every record carries source (the URL the value was read from) and source_quote (a verbatim quote from that page stating it). A value you cannot check against its page is indistinguishable from an invented one; these can all be checked. Each record is also individually addressable on the canonical site at its url.

Licence position

Facts and short attributed quotes taken from each state's workers' compensation board, labor department, or statute page, linking back to the source. Facts are not copyrightable (Feist, 1991); no source page's compiled table is reproduced wholesale.

Facts are not copyrightable; what this dataset takes from each source is a fact plus a short attributed quote linking back to the page that states it.

Sources

• —https://adol.alabama.gov/insurance-requirement-information/
• —https://www.dir.ca.gov/dwc/employer.htm
• —https://cdle.colorado.gov/dwc/employers/insurance-coverage
• —https://www.myfloridacfo.com/division/wc/employer/default.htm
• —https://sbwc.georgia.gov/frequently-asked-questions/workers-compensation-insurance-faqs
• —https://sbwc.georgia.gov/employer-information
• —https://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/coverage-requirements-wc/
• —https://www.tdi.texas.gov/wc/employer/index.html

Fields

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