What the data shows
Warehouses and nursing homes report the most serious injuries. In 2025, warehouses reported 3.7 cases with days away, restricted duty or a job transfer per 100 full-time workers and nursing homes 3.5, against 2.3 across every establishment that filed. Then came trucking companies (2.9), restaurants and bars (2.4), janitorial, landscaping and building-services firms (2.1) and construction sites (1.2).
Construction recorded the most deaths of the six. Employers in construction recorded 184 work-related deaths on their 2025 summaries, 24% of the 774 in the file.
Trucking injuries keep people off work longest. A trucking case with days away averaged 44.8 days off the job, against 37.1 across the file and 21.2 in nursing homes. In trucking, 70% of serious cases were days away from work; in warehouses, 64% were restricted duty or a job transfer instead.
The same industry reports very different rates from state to state. Construction rates run from Vermont (3.8) and Hawaii (2.6) down to Louisiana (0.2), and 31 of 51 states with enough hours to publish are above the national 1.2. In warehouses, the range is Maine (8.1) to New Mexico (1.4). Low rates reflect what employers recorded, which also depends on how cases are reported and how quickly injured workers return to modified duty.
California employers reported higher rates than the nation in 5 of 6 industries. Warehouses: 4.7 in California, 3.7 nationally; Nursing homes: 3.4 in California, 3.5 nationally; Trucking: 3.2 in California, 2.9 nationally; Restaurants and bars: 3.7 in California, 2.4 nationally; Janitorial and landscaping: 3.2 in California, 2.1 nationally; Construction: 1.9 in California, 1.2 nationally. Across all industries, California establishments reported 3.1 (rank 8 of 51).
By broad sector, transportation and warehousing reports the highest rate. Transportation and warehousing establishments reported 4.5 serious cases per 100 full-time workers, then arts, entertainment, and recreation (3.8), public administration (3.2), retail trade (2.8).
What this means for workers’ comp
Workers’ compensation is priced by job classification, so the injury history of an industry is built into what every employer in it pays, and each employer’s own claims then move its price through the experience modification (what an experience mod is). The cases counted here, injuries serious enough to keep someone off the job or on light duty, are the ones that usually become lost-time claims, which weigh far more than medical-only claims. Bringing an injured worker back on modified duty instead of sending them home is one of the few levers an employer controls. For the industries in this report: contractors, restaurants and restaurant workers’ comp, trucking, warehouses, nursing homes, janitorial and landscaping; and workers’ compensation generally, including workers’ comp in Los Angeles.
Use this chart
Free to use with a link back. Paste this into your page or article: