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Total loss formula states and threshold states, by the words they print

This page groups the official sentences we could read by what their words ask you to compare: a percentage, the value itself, a sum with salvage value in it, or nothing that can be computed.

Which states bring salvage value into the sum?

Among the sentences we could read, the plain formula is Virginia’s:

“"Salvage vehicle" means (i) any late model vehicle that has been (a) acquired by an insurance company as a part of the claims process other than a stolen vehicle or (b) damaged as a result of collision, fire, flood, accident, trespass, or any other occurrence to such an extent that its estimated cost of repair, excluding charges for towing, storage, and temporary replacement/rental vehicle or payment for diminished value compensation, would exceed its actual cash value less its current salvage value;”

and the statute says what that last term means:

“"Current salvage value," as applied to a vehicle, means (i) the salvage value of the vehicle, as determined by the insurer responsible for paying the claim, or (ii) if no insurance company is responsible therefor, 25 percent of the actual cash value.”

Repair cost above value less salvage value is the same test as repair cost plus salvage value above value, which is the sum the tool does for Virginia.

Two more states name salvage value inside a judgment, without giving a sum to do. Washington: "Salvage vehicle" means a vehicle whose certificate of title has been surrendered to the department under RCW 46.12.600 due to the vehicle's destruction or declaration as a total loss or for which there is documentation indicating that the vehicle has been declared salvage or has been damaged to the extent that the owner, an insurer, or other person acting on behalf of the owner, has determined that the cost of parts and labor plus the salvage value has made it uneconomical to repair the vehicle. (RCW 46.04.514, Salvage vehicle, read November 11, 2026) Idaho: Any vehicle or vessel for which a salvage certificate of title, salvage bill of sale or other documentation has been issued showing evidence that the vehicle or vessel has been declared salvage or which has been damaged to the extent that the owner, or an insurer, or other person acting on behalf of the owner, determines that the cost of parts and labor minus the salvage value makes it uneconomical to repair or rebuild. (Idaho Code 49-123, read November 11, 2026) Those two sentences do not use the same sign: read them closely. The tool computes nothing for either.

Which states compare repair cost with the value itself?

These sentences print no percentage. The repair cost is set against the value directly.

• Colorado: exceeds the vehicle's retail fair market value immediately prior to the damage
• New Jersey: equals or exceeds the fair market value of the motor vehicle immediately before it was damaged
• Utah: exceeds its fair market value

Which states print a percentage?

24 of the 48 states we could source. The word in front of the number matters to the arithmetic: the tool treats “exceeds” as leaving the number itself out and “or more” as taking it in. Each state’s page has the full quote, with whatever it says about the vehicles and owners it covers.

• Alabama: damaged greater than or equal to 75 percent of the fair retail value
• Arkansas: equal to or exceeding seventy percent (70%) of its average retail value
• Florida: is 80 percent or more of the cost to the owner of replacing
• Iowa: exceeds seventy percent of the fair market value
• Kansas: is 75% or more of the fair market value
• Kentucky: exceeds seventy-five percent (75%) of the retail value
• Louisiana: seventy-five percent or more of the market value
• Maryland: exceeds 75% of the fair market value
• Michigan: equal to or more than 75% but less than 91% of the predamaged actual cash value and equal to or greater than 91% of the predamaged actual cash value
• Minnesota: exceeds 80 percent of its actual cash value
• Missouri: exceeds eighty percent of the fair market value
• Nebraska: meets or exceeds seventy-five percent of the retail value
• Nevada: is 65 percent or more of the fair market value
• New York: more than 75% of the pre-damage retail value
• North Carolina: would exceed seventy-five percent (75%) of its fair retail market value
• North Dakota: in excess of seventy-five percent of the vehicle's retail value
• Oklahoma: exceeds sixty percent (60%) of its fair market value
• Oregon: equal to at least 80 percent of the retail market value
• Rhode Island: exceeds seventy-five percent (75%) of the fair market value
• South Carolina: equal or exceed seventy-five percent of the fair market value
• Texas: exceeds the pre damaged actual cash value of the vehicle (over 100%)
• West Virginia: seventy-five percent or more of the market value
• Wisconsin: exceeds 70 percent of its fair market value
• Wyoming: exceeds seventy-five percent (75%) of the actual retail cash value

Which states’ sentences give no sum to do?

For these states the sentence we quote gives no sum of repair cost against value. The tool shows the sentence and stops.

• Arizona: considers it uneconomical to repair the vehicle
• California: considers it uneconomical to repair
• Connecticut: that has been declared a total loss
• Delaware: transferred as salvage as a result of a total loss insurance settlement
• Georgia: would require the replacement of two or more component parts
• Idaho: the cost of parts and labor minus the salvage value makes it uneconomical to repair or rebuild
• Illinois: makes a payment of damages on a total loss claim
• Indiana: manufactured within the last seven model years that have been wrecked or damaged
• Maine: is declared a total loss by an insurer or owner
• Massachusetts: considers it uneconomical to repair the vehicle
• Mississippi: as a result of paying a total loss claim
• Montana: the cost of parts and labor makes it uneconomical to repair the vehicle
• New Hampshire: as having been a total loss
• New Mexico: considers it uneconomical to repair the vehicle
• Ohio: declares it economically impractical to repair
• Pennsylvania: the cost of repairs would exceed the value of the repaired vehicle
• South Dakota: determines a total loss
• Vermont: declared by an insurance company to be a total loss
• Washington: the cost of parts and labor plus the salvage value has made it uneconomical to repair the vehicle

Where did we find no definition?

Alaska: we found no damage definition or percentage on the official pages a plain request could read. The state’s page shows what we did find.

Does a statute’s number bind the insurer’s decision?

The sentences quoted on this site come from vehicle title laws and agency title pages. None of them is a statement about a particular claim. Insurers may total a vehicle below a statutory threshold, and the value in the sum is decided by the insurer and the policy. We did not read or quote insurance regulations about how a claim is valued.

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