Texas Workers' Compensation Calculator

Under Texas Labor Code §408.121, Impairment Income Benefits (IIBs) are paid at 70% of your Average Weekly Wage (AWW), and you receive 3 weeks of IIBs for every 1% of your impairment rating. A doctor — the treating physician or a designated doctor assigned by the TDI Division of Workers' Compensation — must assign your impairment rating using the AMA Guides after you reach Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI). The maximum weekly IIB payment is capped at $890.00 per week for injuries with a benefit period of October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026. Use this Texas Impairment Rating Payout Calculator formula to estimate your total benefit: Impairment Rating % × 3 weeks × (AWW × 70%).

Concrete example: if your AWW before injury was $1,000/week and you receive a 10% impairment rating, your IIB weekly payment is $700 (70% of $1,000), paid for 30 weeks (10 × 3), giving a total IIB payout of $21,000. If your AWW is high enough to push 70% above $890, the weekly payment is capped at $890 — so a worker earning $1,400/week with a 10% rating would receive $890/week for 30 weeks, or $26,700. IIBs begin the day after you reach MMI and run until they are exhausted. They do not count toward the 104-week TIB limit because they are a separate benefit type triggered by your assigned rating, not your ongoing disability.

Maximum Medical Improvement (MMI) is the legal turning point in every Texas workers' compensation claim. Under Texas Labor Code §401.011(30), MMI is defined as the earliest date on which, based on reasonable medical probability, no further material recovery from or lasting improvement to your injury can reasonably be anticipated — or the expiration of 104 weeks from the date income benefits begin to accrue, whichever comes first. The 104-week rule is called statutory MMI or "MMI by operation of law." It applies automatically even if you are still receiving medical treatment. Once statutory MMI is reached, Temporary Income Benefits (TIBs) stop and your doctor or a TDI-assigned designated doctor must evaluate you for an impairment rating to determine IIB eligibility. No 2025 legislative changes altered the core 104-week rule or its definition under §401.011(30).

There is one important exception to the 104-week cap: Texas Labor Code §408.104 allows the TDI commissioner to extend the MMI date if you have had spinal surgery — or have been approved for spinal surgery — within the 12 weeks before your 104-week period expires. The extension is granted "to a date certain" based on medical evidence and requires an application by either the injured worker or the insurance carrier. Only one extension is permitted per claim. Practically speaking, this means a worker who undergoes a spinal fusion near the end of the benefit window may get additional time before statutory MMI locks in, preserving access to more TIBs. If you are nearing the 104-week mark and have not yet had an impairment rating assigned, speak with a Texas workers' compensation attorney immediately — the deadline is hard.

Texas workers' compensation is not a settlement state in the traditional sense — the system does not allow injured workers to simply cash out all future benefits in one lump sum. However, Texas Labor Code §408.128 provides a narrow exception called commutation of Impairment Income Benefits. An injured worker may elect to receive the remaining IIBs as a single lump-sum payment, but only if two strict conditions are met: (1) you have returned to work for at least three consecutive months, and (2) you are earning at least 80% of your pre-injury Average Weekly Wage. If both conditions are satisfied, you may apply to commute. The critical trade-off: once you commute IIBs, you permanently forfeit all additional income benefits for that injury. This election is final and binding under 28 Texas Administrative Code §147.10.

For workers with the most severe injuries, Lifetime Income Benefits (LIBs) — available for conditions such as total and permanent loss of vision, both hands or feet, or a combination of one hand and one foot — cannot be commuted or settled as a lump sum under any circumstances. LIBs are paid weekly for life at 70–75% of AWW, with a 2026 maximum of $1,271.00 per week, and they include an annual 3% cost-of-living increase. Beyond commutation, Texas workers may also resolve certain disputed benefit claims through a negotiated settlement on a DWC Form-025, but that process applies only to genuinely contested liability — not to undisputed ongoing benefits. The bottom line: a "Texas workers' comp lump sum" is only available in the narrow IIB commutation window, and only after meeting the return-to-work threshold.