General Liability Insurance Calculator

Your industry sets your base rate before anything else is applied, and the range is wider than most owners expect. In my study, GL premiums range from $27/month for Tech/IT businesses to $337/month for Construction and Contracting for the exact same $1M/$2M policy and same business size. That 12x gap is driven entirely by how underwriters classify physical risk and claims history by industry, which is also why broad national averages are not very useful for estimating what your specific business will pay.

Each employee multiplies your GL exposure because more staff means more job sites, more client interactions, and more surface area for a third-party claim. In my data, a sole proprietor pays $65/month, a 1-to-4-person business pays $123/month, and a 5-to-9-person business pays $330/month. That last jump alone is 168% more. If you are close to crossing an employee count band, factor that into your budget before you hire.

Carriers use revenue as a proxy for business activity and claim frequency, but this calculator does not ask for it. I calibrated each estimate to census-based average revenue for your industry, state, and employee count combination using data from the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns, the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, and the Economic Census. If your revenue is significantly above or below the census average for your profile, expect your actual quotes to diverge from the estimate more than the typical 15 to 25% accuracy range.

State-level GL pricing in my study ranges from $87/month in West Virginia to $190/month in California for the same business profile and coverage. Nine states sit more than 20% below the national average, mostly in the South and Midwest, and ten states sit more than 20% above it, including New York, California, New Jersey, and D.C. For most businesses, your industry classification will move your rate more than your location will.

This calculator uses $1M per occurrence and $2M aggregate, the standard floor most contracts and leases require. Moving to higher limits does increase your premium, but not proportionally. Going from $1M to $2M per occurrence typically adds 15 to 30% to the base premium, not 100%, because the marginal cost of additional coverage decreases as limits increase.

Prior claims are not a calculator input, but they are one of the most consequential factors when you get formal quotes and especially at renewal. A single large claim within the past three years can increase your renewal premium significantly, and some carriers will decline to renew after certain claims patterns. If your business has had claims, expect actual quotes to run above my estimates and prioritize carriers that specialize in your industry, who are generally more comfortable pricing prior claims than generalist carriers are.