Nevada Tops States Where Energy Workers Get Highest Compensation Pay-Outs

Nevada tops states in a new study of states in which current and former employees of the Department of Energy received the highest average payout in monetary compensation and paid medical bills after suffering illnesses as a result of being exposed to harmful substances.

The study examined DOE data from Employees Occupational Illness Compensation to discover the number of applications for compensation, the number that received a payment and the total amount paid. The total amount paid was compared against successful applications to reveal the average payout per successful application.

The study, by personal injury law firm Bader Scott, puts Nevada on top of the with a total of 8,427 compensation payments at an average amount of $221,366. Overall workers living in the state received $1,038,404,183 in monetary payments, and a further $827,046,106 for medical bills, adding up to $1,865,450,289, which results in the highest average payout in the country.

New Mexico was in second place, with workers living getting $4,070,424,774 in compensation, which is made up of $1,611,736,082 in payments, and $2,458,688,692 in medical bills. When compared against the 18,656 payments that were made, it equates to the second highest average in the nation: $218,183.

In third place, the average compensation payout for energy workers living in South Carolina was $215,014. That is based on 7,171 payments totaling $711,807,747 in medical bills, and $830,055,594 in monetary payments, which is a combined sum of $1,541,863,341.

The top 10 states with the highest average compensation payouts for energy workers is completed by Ohio in sixth ($193,068), Kentucky in seventh ($175,188), Idaho in eighth ($173,695), Iowa in ninth ($171,762) and Arizona in tenth ($166,400).