Gera Tools

North Dakota Workers' Compensation Premium Calculator

Estimate annual workers' comp insurance cost for North Dakota employees.

Estimates employer workers' compensation premium for North Dakota using the classification code base rate per 100 dollars of payroll, annual payroll, and an experience modifier, reflecting the state's monopolistic WSI fund structure.

How is workers' comp premium calculated?

Premium is your annual payroll divided by 100, multiplied by the classification base rate, then multiplied by your experience modifier. The payroll-divided-by-100 step is because rates are quoted per 100 dollars of payroll, which is the industry standard.

Workers’ compensation insurance is a required cost for almost every employer, but the premium math is simpler than it looks. This tool estimates an employer’s annual workers’ comp premium in North Dakota, where coverage is bought exclusively from the state fund, Workforce Safety and Insurance (WSI).

How it works

Workers’ comp premiums follow a standard formula built on three inputs:

manual premium = (annual payroll ÷ 100) × class base rate
final premium  = manual premium × experience modifier
  1. Payroll ÷ 100 — rates are always quoted per $100 of payroll, so the payroll is divided by 100 first.
  2. Classification base rate — every kind of work has a code and a rate reflecting its injury risk. Low-risk clerical work might be $0.20 per $100; high-risk construction or logging can be $15 or more.
  3. Experience modifier — a multiplier comparing your claims history to your industry. 1.0 is average, below 1.0 is a discount for a clean record, above 1.0 is a surcharge.

In North Dakota, WSI is the sole provider — there is no private market to shop, but the same premium structure applies.

Tips and example

Suppose a small office has $300,000 in annual payroll at a clerical class rate of $0.30 per $100, with an experience mod of 1.0. The manual premium is 300000 ÷ 100 × 0.30 = $900, and with a 1.0 mod the final premium is also $900. Now imagine a roofing crew with the same payroll at a $15 class rate — that is $45,000, showing how dramatically classification drives the cost.

Lowering your experience mod through a clean safety record is the most direct lever an employer controls. This estimate ignores minimum premiums, owner payroll caps, and WSI dividend or discount programs, so treat it as a starting point and confirm with WSI for an exact figure.