Traumatic brain injury settlements average $850,000, with a range from $100,000 to over $10 million. TBI is the single highest-value injury category in personal injury law. Even a "mild" concussion can settle for $20,000 to $100,000, while severe TBI cases with permanent cognitive impairment regularly reach $1 million to $5 million+. Diffuse axonal injuries — the most catastrophic form — have produced verdicts and settlements exceeding $20 million.
Brain injuries are uniquely difficult to prove because damage is often invisible on standard imaging. Insurance companies exploit this by dismissing cognitive symptoms as subjective or pre-existing. Proper neuropsychological testing and expert documentation are the difference between a lowball offer and fair compensation.
Get your free brain injury estimate →TBI Severity Classification and Settlement Ranges
Brain injury severity is the primary driver of settlement value. The medical community classifies TBI on a spectrum from mild to severe, and each level corresponds to dramatically different settlement ranges. Understanding where your injury falls on this spectrum is the first step in evaluating your claim.
| Injury Type | Settlement Range | Key Details |
|---|---|---|
| Mild Concussion | $20,000 - $100,000 | Brief loss of consciousness or disorientation, symptoms resolve within weeks to months |
| Moderate Concussion / Post-Concussion Syndrome | $75,000 - $300,000 | Persistent symptoms beyond 3 months: headaches, cognitive fog, dizziness, mood changes |
| Moderate TBI | $100,000 - $500,000 | Extended loss of consciousness, amnesia, documented cognitive deficits on neuropsych testing |
| Severe TBI | $500,000 - $5,000,000+ | Prolonged unconsciousness, permanent cognitive and physical impairments, may require lifetime care |
| Diffuse Axonal Injury | $1,000,000 - $20,000,000+ | Widespread shearing of brain nerve fibers, often results in coma, vegetative state, or death |
| Penetrating Brain Injury | $1,000,000 - $15,000,000+ | Object penetrates the skull; catastrophic damage to localized brain regions, high mortality rate |
Source: SetCalc analysis of court records, verdict databases, and legal publications, 2025-2026. Ranges reflect national data; your location can shift values significantly. See settlement statistics by state.
Why the Ranges Are So Wide
No injury category has wider settlement ranges than TBI. A mild concussion that resolves in two weeks settles for a fraction of what a concussion with persistent post-concussion syndrome is worth — even though both are technically classified as "mild TBI." The key variables are symptom duration, objective evidence of cognitive deficits, impact on earning capacity, and whether the victim requires ongoing care or supervision.
Lower End Factors
- • Quick symptom resolution (under 3 months)
- • Normal neuropsychological testing
- • No loss of consciousness at time of injury
- • Return to work without restrictions
- • No objective imaging abnormalities
Higher End Factors
- • Persistent cognitive deficits documented by neuropsych testing
- • Abnormalities on DTI MRI or PET scan
- • Inability to return to prior employment
- • Personality or behavioral changes documented by family
- • Need for ongoing cognitive rehabilitation
Concussion Settlement Statistics
The Invisible Injury: Proving Brain Damage
Brain injuries are called the "invisible injury" for good reason. Unlike a broken bone that shows up clearly on an X-ray, most TBIs — especially mild and moderate ones — produce no visible abnormalities on standard CT scans or MRIs. This creates an enormous challenge for claimants: you feel profoundly different, but the insurance company's doctor says your imaging is "normal."
Proving a brain injury requires building a multi-layered evidence portfolio that demonstrates cognitive impairment through several independent methods. No single test is enough — it is the convergence of evidence that makes TBI claims compelling.
Neuropsychological Testing
A comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation is the gold standard for documenting TBI. These 4-8 hour test batteries measure memory, attention, processing speed, executive function, and emotional regulation. Results are compared to population norms and the patient's estimated pre-injury baseline. Deficits identified through neuropsych testing are extremely difficult for insurance companies to dismiss because they are objective, standardized, and administered by a licensed specialist.
Advanced Imaging (DTI MRI, PET, SPECT)
Standard MRI misses most TBI damage. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) MRI detects damage to white matter tracts — the connections between brain regions — that conventional imaging cannot see. PET and SPECT scans show metabolic activity and blood flow abnormalities in the brain. While not yet universally accepted in all courts, DTI findings are increasingly admitted as evidence and can transform a "normal imaging" case into one with objective proof of structural damage.
Before-and-After Performance Records
School transcripts, work performance reviews, and productivity records from before and after the injury provide powerful evidence of cognitive decline. A student who maintained a 3.8 GPA before the accident and dropped to a 2.1 afterward tells a compelling story. An employee with consistently strong performance reviews who suddenly receives warnings about errors and missed deadlines creates undeniable documentation of the injury's impact.
Witness Testimony on Personality Changes
Brain injuries frequently cause personality and behavioral changes that the victim themselves may not recognize. Statements from spouses, parents, children, coworkers, and friends describing how the person has changed — increased irritability, emotional outbursts, social withdrawal, loss of motivation, difficulty following conversations — provide critical evidence that no medical test can capture. These lay witness statements often have the greatest emotional impact on juries.
The "Normal MRI" Trap
Why TBI Settlements Are the Highest in Personal Injury
Traumatic brain injuries consistently produce the largest settlements and jury verdicts in personal injury law — often exceeding those for spinal cord injuries, amputations, and severe burns. This is not arbitrary. The economics and human impact of brain injuries create damages that compound over a lifetime.
The Compounding Cost of Brain Injury
- 1.Lifetime care costs — Moderate to severe TBI victims often require decades of cognitive rehabilitation, occupational therapy, psychological counseling, and in severe cases, 24/7 supervised care. The CDC estimates lifetime costs for a severe TBI exceed $3 million in direct medical expenses alone, not including lost wages or quality of life damages.
- 2.Lost earning capacity — Brain injuries attack the very thing that generates income: cognitive function. A 35-year-old professional earning $120,000 per year who can no longer work at that level has lost $3-4 million in future earnings over a working lifetime. Even partial cognitive impairment that reduces earning capacity by 30-50% translates to enormous economic damages.
- 3.Progressive cognitive decline — Research increasingly shows that TBI victims face elevated risk of early-onset dementia, Parkinson's disease, and other neurodegenerative conditions. This means damages are not static — they compound over time as the brain's vulnerability increases with age. Future medical cost projections must account for this escalating risk.
- 4.Personality and relationship destruction — TBI frequently transforms the victim's personality — a patient, loving parent becomes irritable and volatile; an outgoing professional becomes withdrawn and anxious. Divorce rates among TBI victims are significantly higher than the general population. These losses of consortium and companionship add substantial non-economic damages to claims.
- 5.Impact on every aspect of daily life — Unlike an orthopedic injury that limits physical activities, brain injury affects thinking, feeling, communicating, and relating to others. It touches every dimension of human existence: work, relationships, hobbies, self-care, financial management, and parenting. Juries respond powerfully to this totality of loss.
The Young Victim Premium
The Glasgow Coma Scale and How It Affects Your Case
The Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) is the most widely used clinical tool for assessing the severity of a traumatic brain injury at the time it occurs. Paramedics and emergency room doctors assign a GCS score within minutes of evaluating a patient. This score, ranging from 3 to 15, becomes a foundational piece of evidence in your settlement case.
| GCS Score | Severity | Clinical Meaning | Typical Settlement Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13-15 | Mild | Alert, oriented, may have brief confusion or disorientation | $20K - $100K |
| 9-12 | Moderate | Confused, follows some commands, may have extended unconsciousness | $100K - $500K |
| 3-8 | Severe | Unconscious, no meaningful response, coma | $500K - $10M+ |
A low GCS score documented in the ambulance or ER records is among the strongest pieces of evidence in a TBI case. It provides objective, contemporaneous proof that the brain injury was serious at the time of the accident — before any insurance company can argue the symptoms are exaggerated or unrelated.
However, a high GCS score does not mean your case is weak. Many TBI victims score 14 or 15 at the scene because they are alert and talking, yet develop significant cognitive problems in the days and weeks that follow. Post-concussion syndrome, for example, often begins after a GCS 15 presentation. The GCS measures acute severity, not long-term outcome.
Request Your EMS Records
Critical Documentation for TBI Claims
Brain injury claims require more documentation than any other personal injury category. Because TBI damage is often invisible on standard imaging, you must build an evidence portfolio from multiple sources that together paint an undeniable picture of cognitive impairment and its impact on your life.
Comprehensive Neuropsychological Evaluation
This is the single most important piece of evidence in most TBI claims. A licensed neuropsychologist administers a battery of standardized tests over 4-8 hours that measure memory, attention, processing speed, executive function, language, and visuospatial skills. Results are compared to age-matched norms and, ideally, to the patient's estimated pre-injury cognitive baseline. A well-documented neuropsych report can add six figures to your settlement value.
Key point: Schedule the neuropsych evaluation after acute symptoms stabilize but before too much time passes. Evaluations done 3-6 months post-injury are typically most useful for documenting persistent deficits.
Neurologist Reports and Treatment Records
A treating neurologist provides expert medical documentation of your diagnosis, symptom progression, treatment plan, and prognosis. Neurologist records carry significantly more weight than primary care notes for brain injury claims. Request referral to a neurologist as early as possible — ideally within the first two weeks post-injury.
School and Work Performance Records
Gather transcripts, report cards, standardized test scores, performance reviews, productivity metrics, error logs, and any disciplinary records from before and after the injury. The contrast between pre-injury and post-injury performance is one of the most compelling forms of evidence in TBI cases. Employers and schools are required to provide these records upon request.
Key point: If you were a high performer before the injury and your performance declined afterward, this before-and-after comparison is worth more than almost any medical test in proving real-world impact.
Family and Close Friend Statements
Ask your spouse, parents, children (if old enough), close friends, and coworkers to write detailed statements describing specific changes they have observed since the injury. Focus on concrete examples: "Before the accident, he managed all our finances. Now he cannot balance a checkbook or remember to pay bills on time." These statements humanize the data and provide evidence of changes that no clinical test can capture.
Vocational Expert Testimony
A vocational rehabilitation expert evaluates how your cognitive deficits translate into lost earning capacity. They analyze your pre-injury career trajectory, current cognitive limitations, and the labor market to calculate the dollar value of lost future earnings. In moderate to severe TBI cases, vocational expert testimony routinely supports damage figures in the millions, particularly for younger victims with high earning potential.
Do Not Wait to Document
Realistic TBI Settlement Examples
Here is what real traumatic brain injury settlements look like when you account for severity, documentation quality, treatment, and location. These examples are based on SetCalc's analysis of actual settlement and verdict data.
Example 1: Mild Concussion from Car Accident (Texas)
Case Details:
- Rear-end collision on I-35 in Austin, TX
- GCS 15 at scene, brief disorientation
- Diagnosed with mild concussion in ER
- Post-concussion symptoms for 8 weeks
- Medical bills: $12,000
- Lost wages: $6,500 (3 weeks missed work)
Settlement Breakdown:
- Economic damages: $18,500
- Pain & suffering (2.5x): $46,250
Settlement Range:
$45,000 - $65,000
TX modified comparative fault, clear liability, symptoms resolved fully, no neuropsych testing needed
Example 2: Moderate TBI from Truck Accident (California)
Case Details:
- T-bone collision with delivery truck in Sacramento, CA
- GCS 10, loss of consciousness for 20 minutes
- CT showed small subdural hematoma
- Neuropsych testing: deficits in memory and processing speed
- Unable to return to prior engineering role
- Medical bills: $145,000
- Lost wages + future earning capacity: $380,000
Settlement Breakdown:
- Economic damages: $525,000
- Pain & suffering (1.5x): $787,500
- Future cognitive rehabilitation: $85,000
Settlement Range:
$625,000 - $750,000
CA pure comparative negligence, commercial vehicle defendant, strong neuropsych evidence, career-ending cognitive deficits
Example 3: Severe TBI from Pedestrian Accident (Illinois)
Case Details:
- Pedestrian struck in crosswalk in Chicago, IL
- GCS 5, coma for 11 days
- Diffuse axonal injury on DTI MRI
- Permanent cognitive impairment: memory, executive function, emotional regulation
- Cannot live independently, requires supervised care
- Medical bills to date: $620,000
- Projected lifetime care costs: $2,800,000
Settlement Breakdown:
- Economic damages: $3,420,000
- Lost lifetime earning capacity: $2,100,000
- Pain & suffering + loss of enjoyment: $3,500,000
Settlement Range:
$4,200,000 - $6,500,000
IL plaintiff-friendly, Cook County jury values, catastrophic permanent impairment, 32-year-old victim
Calculate Your TBI Settlement Value
Calculate Your TBI Settlement Value
Every traumatic brain injury case is different. The ranges and examples above give you a starting point, but your specific settlement value depends on the unique combination of your injury severity, cognitive deficits, documentation quality, treatment history, and state.
SetCalc's AI-powered TBI settlement calculator analyzes your specific details against real settlement data from your state to generate a personalized estimate. Unlike generic calculators, we factor in:
Injury-Specific Analysis
- • Concussion vs. moderate TBI vs. severe TBI
- • GCS score and loss of consciousness duration
- • Neuropsychological testing results
- • Post-concussion syndrome duration
Location-Specific Data
- • Your state's comparative fault rules
- • Local jury verdict tendencies for TBI
- • Regional medical cost variations
- • State-specific damage caps
What Is Your Brain Injury Really Worth?
TBI cases are the most undervalued claims in personal injury because brain damage is invisible. Get a location-specific, severity-specific estimate based on real settlement data — reviewed by a licensed personal injury attorney.
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