Head injuries break comp’s usual pattern. In most of this system, the desk job rates lowest — the schedule prices injuries against physical demands. Cognition is the exception: thinking is the clerical trade’s heavy lifting, and the variants say so. Figures computed by the engine.
How head injuries are measured
The anchor line is 13.04.00.00 — cognitive impairment, rated WPI from neuropsychological findings: memory, processing speed, executive function. Mild residual deficits commonly rate in the single digits to low teens; moderate impairment runs into the twenties. But a real TBI file is multi-line: arousal/sleep disorder, behavioral-emotional change, tinnitus, vertigo — each its own ratable string, all combined on the CVC.
The money table (cognitive line alone)
Final PD and total indemnity at age 37–41, 2026 injury, maximum PD rate, before apportionment:
| WPI | Clerical · 111 | Custodian · 340 | Carpenter · 380 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | 10% · $8,772.50 | 5% · $4,350 | 11% · $9,932.50 |
| 10% | 18% · $18,995 | 11% · $9,932.50 | 20% · $21,895 |
| 20% | 34% · $46,110 | 24% · $27,695 | 36% · $50,170 |
| 29% | 47% · $72,500 | 35% · $48,140 | 50% · $78,662.50 |
Read the columns: clerical draws variant H — nearly the ceiling — while the custodian draws D. A bookkeeper’s concussion out-rates a custodian’s at every severity, and nearly matches the carpenter’s. No other injury family inverts the usual order this hard.
The severe end has its own rules
Brain injury producing permanent, incurable mental incapacity is conclusively presumed 100% disabling (§4662) — no rating string needed. And severe TBI is the archetypal catastrophic injury, which matters because SB 863’s bar on psychiatric add-ons to physical injuries has a catastrophic-injury exception: TBI cases are where psych ratings re-enter post-2013 claims.
What this table can’t tell you
Wages below the maximum scale the dollars down, the non-cognitive lines add real percentage on the CVC, ratings of 70%+ add a life pension, and lifetime future medical in TBI cases is often worth more than the PD. Companion pages: back · knee · shoulder · neck · hip · wrist · ankle · elbow · foot · hand · carpal tunnel · hearing · eye · amputation · fusion · knee replacement · rotator cuff · hip replacement · hernia · lungs · heart. Estimates for informational use; not legal or medical advice.
Rate your head injury 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.