Press brakes, table saws, conveyors, augers — amputation claims are the oldest injuries in workers’ comp, and California prices them differently than most states: no flat scheduled-loss list. Each amputation converts through the AMA ladder — digit → hand → upper extremity → whole person — then runs the same 2005 PDRS pipeline as every other injury: occupation, age, apportionment. The figures below are computed by the rating engine.
The digit ladder
The AMA Guides assign each digit a share of the hand (Table 16-1): the thumb is 40%, index and middle 20% each, ring and little 10% each. A complete digit amputation takes its full share; a fingertip takes part. The hand value converts to the upper extremity (×0.9), then to whole person (×0.6) — the engine runs the whole ladder, with the schedule’s intermediate rounding, from a hand-scale entry.
The money table
Complete amputations, engine-computed at age 37–41, 2026 injury, maximum PD rate, before apportionment — first column shows the converted WPI:
| WPI | Clerical · 111 | Custodian · 340 | Carpenter · 380 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thumb · 22% | 34% · $46,110 | 31% · $40,020 | 37% · $52,200 |
| Index · 11% | 19% · $20,445 | 15% · $14,645 | 21% · $23,345 |
| Middle · 11% | 19% · $20,445 | 15% · $14,645 | 21% · $23,345 |
| Little · 5% | 8% · $6,960 | 7% · $6,090 | 10% · $8,772.50 |
| Whole hand · 54% | 78% · $162,762.50 | 76% · $153,482.50 | 80% · $172,042.50 |
The carpenter column tops the digit rows — variant H on the thumb, I on the index — because gripping and fine tool control are exactly what amputation takes. And note the index finger out-rating its 20%-of-hand twin on nobody: index and middle carry identical hand shares and identical money, but the functional loss argument (pinch, trigger, keyboard) is where med-legal reports differ.
The whole-hand row changes the case
At 76–80% PD, a hand amputation crosses the 70% line: after the PD weeks pay out, a §4659 life pension begins and runs for life with the SAWW COLA — the layer most settlement conversations under-price. Ratings this size are also where 100% permanent total disability arguments start (§4662 lists the loss of both hands as PTD in law), and where vocational evidence does the heavy lifting. The lifetime numbers are unpacked in what a rating is worth.
Prosthetics are the long tail
The medical award carries the prosthetic itself, its fitting, and its replacement cycle for life — plus revision surgery, neuroma care, and desensitization therapy. On a digit claim the prosthetic stream can rival the PD; on a hand claim it’s six figures of its own at settlement time.
What this table can’t tell you
Partial amputations rate by the amputated fraction, multiple digits combine on the CVC (with the hand-level cap), wages below the maximum scale everything down, and apportionment is rare but not impossible here. Companion pages: back · knee · shoulder · neck · hip · wrist · ankle · elbow · foot · hand · carpal tunnel · hearing · eye · fusion · knee replacement · rotator cuff. Estimates for informational use; not legal or medical advice.
Rate your amputation right here
Same engine as the tables above — pick your occupation and age, slide the WPI from the report, and carry it into the full calculator when you’re ready.