Making milk in the nation's largest dairy state is expensive, and part of the reason why are workers' compensation insurance rates that are among the highest in the U.S.
According to the 2010 survey of rates in all 50 states by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (ODCBS), the median national workers' comp premium is 2.04 percent of payroll cost. That's good news for employers in general, because the median in 2009 was 2.26 percent. Unfortunately for California dairy owners, their state's rate of 2.68 percent was the 5th highest in the nation.
Montana had the highest rate of all states (3.33 percent) and North Dakota had the lowest (1.02 percent).
In addition to California, most of the other 10 largest milk-producing states were also above the national median level, which are listed in order here:
California – 2.68 percent
Wisconsin – 2.21 percent
New York – 2.34 percent
Idaho – 1.98 percent
Pennsylvania – 2.32 percent
Minnesota – 2.27 percent
Texas – 2.38 percent
Michigan – 2.12 percent
New Mexico – 1.91 percent
Washington – 2.04 percent
