New Mexico Concrete Workers Comp Rates (2026)
New Mexico does not publish its concrete class figures online. Across the 26 states that do, the median typical premium is about $3.84 per $100 of payroll. Ask a carrier or the state's rating bureau for the current New Mexico figure.
No official New Mexico figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
New Mexico class code for concrete
- 5213: Concrete Construction NOC
- 5215 (Concrete Work - Incidental to the Construction of Private Residence)
- 5221 (Concrete or Cement Work - Floors, Driveways, Yards or Sidewalks & Drivers)
Concrete work involves heavy lifting, silica dust from cutting and grinding, skin burns from wet cement, and equipment hazards from mixers, vibrators and pumps.
What comp costs per concrete finisher in New Mexico
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 1,540 cement masons and concrete finishers on payrolls in New Mexico (May 2025), the 35th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $23.67 an hour, 14% below the US median of $27.41.
This trade is a bigger part of the New Mexico job market than it is nationally: cement masons and concrete finishers hold 1.3 times their national share of jobs there.
At the US median of $3.84 per $100 of payroll (New Mexico does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.91 for every hour worked, or $1,891 a year full time. A 4-person crew comes to roughly $7,562 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. New Mexico pay runs from $18.92 an hour at the 10th percentile to $33.78 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.73 an hour on a new hire and $1.30 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in New Mexico
- Coverage required: 3+ employees; construction of any size requires coverage
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owner exemptions must be approved by the WCA Compliance Bureau; may elect in
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive if disability lasts more than 4 weeks
- Penalty for going without: Up to $1,000 per day, plus reimbursement of the Uninsured Employers' Fund with a 15-50% penalty
New Mexico requires construction coverage at any size and makes sole-proprietor exemptions subject to state approval rather than automatic.
New Mexico vs neighboring states
New Mexico does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, Texas is the cheapest for concrete comp at about $1.67 and Colorado the most expensive at about $3.29 per $100 of payroll.
If your crews work across the line, list those states under item 3.A or 3.C of your policy before the job starts. Rates follow the state where the work is done, not where your office is.
What moves a concrete comp bill
- Concrete classes depend on the work: flatwork and driveways often rate differently from foundations and structural pours. Getting the class right is the first saving.
- Back and crush injuries from forms, rebar, and pump hoses drive claims. A short pre-pour safety check on every job helps your mod over three years.
- Concrete crews often hire short-term labor during the pour season. Every worker you pay counts at audit, so keep clean payroll records for temporary hires.
- Owner-operators who pour alone can often exclude themselves; the rules vary by state, so check before you skip coverage.