Workers’ Compensation Research

New York Workers’ Comp: 5,586,588 Claims Analyzed

A data-driven analysis of 5,586,588 workers’ compensation claims filed through the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. Explore wage distributions, injury type breakdowns, and county-level patterns.

5,586,588

Total Claims

Official NY WCB records

$962

Avg Weekly Wage

Across all claim types

$762

Median Weekly Wage

50th percentile

$1,707

90th Percentile Wage

Top 10% of claimants

What Workers Can Expect: Wage Percentiles

The weekly wage reported at the time of injury is the foundation for calculating workers’ compensation benefits in New York. Understanding the distribution helps claimants benchmark their own situation.

The median weekly wage is $762 ($40K/year), meaning half of all claimants earned less and half earned more at the time of their workplace injury. However, the average is $962 — pulled higher by a relatively small number of high-earning claimants.

Percentile	Weekly Wage	Annual Equivalent	What It Means
10th	$326	$17K	Lowest-earning 10% of claimants
25th	$502	$26K	Lower quartile
50th (Median)	$762	$40K	Typical claimant wage
75th	$1,187	$62K	Upper quartile
90th	$1,707	$89K	High-earning claimants
95th	$2,091	$109K	Top 5% of earners

Source: NY Workers’ Compensation Board. Weekly wages at time of injury.

Average Wage by Injury Type

The type of injury outcome correlates with the claimant’s pre-injury earning level. Workers with scheduled loss (permanent partial disability) claims had the highest average wages at $1,083/week, while medical-only claims averaged $936/week.

Claim Type	Claims	Avg Weekly Wage	% of Total
Non-Compensable	2,653,292	$1,224	47.5%
Temporary Disability	1,302,202	$912	23.3%
Medical Only	759,289	$936	13.6%
Scheduled Loss (PPD)	621,934	$1,083	11.1%
Non-Scheduled Loss (PPD)	123,756	$889	2.2%
Cancelled	113,431	$803	2.0%
Death	6,959	$1,078	0.1%
Permanent Total Disability	5,725	$908	0.1%

Note: Non-compensable and cancelled claims reflect $0 or minimal wages because benefits were not established.

Claims by County: Top 10

New York County (Manhattan) and Queens lead in claim volume, reflecting the concentration of New York City’s workforce. The five NYC boroughs collectively account for 1,942,750 claims — 34.8% of the state total.

County	Claims	Avg Weekly Wage
Queens	535,347	$1,036
Suffolk	513,202	$1,110
Kings	479,854	$1,008
New york	465,803	$1,070
Nassau	388,322	$1,194
Bronx	341,734	$958
Erie	326,876	$852
Westchester	245,570	$1,141
Monroe	245,292	$756
Onondaga	167,733	$773
Orange	146,385	$1,043
Albany	128,425	$860
Richmond	120,012	$1,177
Dutchess	103,156	$1,085
Rockland	79,059	$1,100
Niagara	74,022	$838
Oneida	70,249	$801
Saratoga	66,907	$851
Broome	65,597	$737
Unknown	54,707	$965

Gender and Wage Disparities

Male claimants account for 3,288,494 claims (58.9%) with an average weekly wage of $1,045. Female claimants represent 2,233,285 claims (40.0%) with an average wage of $820.

The $225/week gap (27% difference) mirrors broader labor market wage disparities. Since workers’ compensation benefits are calculated as a percentage of pre-injury wages, this gap directly translates into lower benefit amounts for female workers.

Male Claimants

$1,045/wk

3,288,494 claims

Female Claimants

$820/wk

2,233,285 claims

Methodology & Data Source

This analysis uses official claim-level data from the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. The dataset includes 5,586,588 assembled claims covering all injury types from workplace accidents to occupational diseases.

Important Caveats

Data reflects claims filed in New York State only — not a national sample.
Weekly wages are self-reported by employers at the time of injury.
“Non-compensable” claims include denied or withdrawn filings and show minimal wages.
The dataset does not include final settlement or award amounts — only pre-injury wages and claim types.

Explore More Settlement Data

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Workers' Compensation Calculator by State

Each state's calculator uses its specific weekly benefit rate, waiting period, and scheduled-loss tables. Pick yours.

California →Texas →Florida →New York →Illinois →Pennsylvania →Ohio →Michigan →New Jersey →Washington →

Primary sources

Every figure on this page traces to a dataset published by the agency below. The links go to the agency's own page — not to a summary of it.

Assembled Workers' Compensation Claims: Beginning 2000
New York State Workers' Compensation Board · 1994–2026
The only monetary column in this file is the claimant's average weekly wage, not an award — which is why no dollar total is derived from it.
data.ny.gov

Source files last retrieved August 14, 2026. Agencies revise historical records; figures reflect the files as retrieved on that date.

Cite this analysis

This analysis is free to reuse with attribution. The underlying government files are linked above — cite them directly when you need the raw record rather than our aggregation.

APA

Goldberg, L. (2026). New York Workers' Compensation Claims — analysis of assembled Workers' Compensation Board claim records [Analysis of public records]. Settlement Insight Research. https://settlementinsight.com/research/workers-compensation-statistics

BibTeX

@misc{goldberg_2026_ny_workers_comp,
  author       = {Goldberg, Leonard},
  title        = {{New York Workers' Compensation Claims — analysis of assembled Workers' Compensation Board claim records}},
  year         = 2026,
  howpublished = {Settlement Insight Research},
  url          = {https://settlementinsight.com/research/workers-compensation-statistics}
}