Virginia sets July 2026 workers' comp maximum at $1,507.01, up about 3% from 2025
The Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission's official rate schedule fixes a $1,507.01 maximum and $376.75 minimum weekly benefit for injuries on or after July 1, 2026, with a 2.65% COLA effective October 1, 2026.
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The Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission (VWC) has set the maximum weekly indemnity benefit at $1,507.01 and the minimum at $376.75 for dates of injury on or after July 1, 2026, according to the Commission's official rate schedule of minimum and maximum benefits.
The new maximum is up from the $1,463.10 figure the Commission set for the period beginning July 1, 2025, an increase of roughly 3.0%. The minimum likewise rises from $365.78 to $376.75, also about 3.0%. Virginia adjusts these statutory bookends annually each July 1; per the Commission's schedule, the maximum has stepped up each year from $1,290.00 (July 1, 2022) to $1,343.00 (2023), $1,410.00 (2024), and $1,463.10 (2025) before reaching $1,507.01 for 2026.
The rates apply by date of injury, so the benefit ceiling and floor in effect when an injury occurs govern that claim's weekly indemnity for its life rather than shifting with later annual adjustments.
The same Commission schedule sets a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) rate of 2.65% effective October 1, 2026, down from the 2.85% rate effective October 1, 2025. Per the VWC's COLA guidance, the adjustment exists so that "the value of compensation benefits paid under the Virginia Workers' Compensation Act does not diminish due to inflation," and COLA rates "change yearly and are effective October 1 of each year." The Commission notes the adjustment "is not self-executing" — a specific claim for COLA must be filed each year together with a statement from the Social Security Administration as to current disability status, and the combined weekly compensation and Social Security disability benefit cannot exceed 80% of the claimant's pre-injury average weekly wage.
Separately, the Commission's schedule lists a medical mileage reimbursement rate of $0.725 per mile effective January 1, 2026, up from $0.70 per mile a year earlier.
This piece reports the Commission's published rate figures and COLA mechanism and does not reproduce any proprietary rating-bureau material.
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