| --- |
| pretty_name: "Workers' compensation insurance requirements by US state: employee thresholds, who counts, and industry exceptions" |
| license: other |
| license_name: source-terms-cited |
| license_link: https://referencesource.org/workers-comp-coverage-thresholds-by-state/ |
| language: |
| - en |
| tags: |
| - reference-data |
| - provenance |
| - referencesource-org |
| configs: |
| - config_name: default |
| data_files: |
| - split: train |
| path: data/records.jsonl |
| --- |
| # 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/employer-information |
| - https://sbwc.georgia.gov/frequently-asked-questions/workers-compensation-insurance-faqs |
| - https://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/coverage-requirements-wc/ |
| - https://www.tdi.texas.gov/wc/employer/index.html |
|
|
| ## Fields |
|
|
| See any record in `data/records.jsonl` — field names are self-describing, |
| and the canonical page for each record renders them with labels: |
| https://referencesource.org/workers-comp-coverage-thresholds-by-state/ |
|
|
