New York Dog Injury Claims Average Nearly $110,000

Dog bites and related injuries can lead to large insurance claims. A recent study found that the average dog related injury claim in New York back in 2024 was about $110,000.

Claims Cost Billions Nationwide

U.S. insurers paid nearly $1.57 billion for dog bite and related injury claims in 2024. There were 22,658 claims nationwide. The national average was $69,272, which is far below New York’s claims.

The Study Looked Beyond Dog Bites

Ravid & Associates created a state injury risk index. Their study used federal workplace death and injury data. Dog bite claims were shown separately because full information was available for only 10 states.

How States Were Scored

The injury score gave more weight to workplace deaths. Those numbers made up 60 percent of each state’s score. Workplace injuries that caused missed work, job limits, or a temporary job change made up the other 40 percent.

The Numbers Have Limits

The rankings compare states, but they do not predict personal injury risk. Some states did not report workplace injury information (I wonder why). Those states were scored only with the workplace death rate.

What New Yorkers Should Know

The high average does not mean that every New York dog injury leads to a $110,000 payment but it is an average of the reported insurance claims. The amount in any case can depend on medical costs, lost income, legal decisions, and other facts.

The study that they used 2024 data was from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Insurance Information Institute, and State Farm. Go here to see the full rankings for all 50 states.