Massachusetts Drywall Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published Massachusetts rate for drywall workers comp, class 5445 (Sheetrock Installation - Within Buildings & Drivers (Wallboard Installation)), is $3.94 per $100 of payroll (effective July 1, 2024). Your experience modifier and any carrier discounts adjust it.
This is the published manual rate, so it already includes carrier expenses. Source.
Massachusetts class code for drywall
- 5445: Sheetrock Installation - Within Buildings & Drivers (Wallboard Installation)
Massachusetts has its own classification system and manual, with NCCI-style numbers for most trades but its own codes in places (roofing split into 5545 sloped and 5547 flat, no 5537 HVAC class, no 5436), plus a wage-based Massachusetts Construction Classification Premium Adjustment Program (MCCPAP) credit for qualifying construction employers.
Drywall work carries lifting injuries from heavy sheets, dust exposure, and ladder and scaffold falls on high walls and ceilings.
What comp costs per drywall installer in Massachusetts
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 590 drywall and ceiling tile installers on payrolls in Massachusetts (May 2025), the 29th largest workforce of the 49 states with published figures. The median wage is $33.42 an hour, 18% above the US median of $28.33.
This trade is a smaller part of the Massachusetts job market than it is nationally: drywall and ceiling tile installers hold 0.31 times their national share of jobs there.
At the published Massachusetts rate of $3.94 per $100 of payroll for class 5445, comp on one worker at that wage costs about $1.32 for every hour worked, or $2,739 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $8,217 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Massachusetts pay runs from $16.45 an hour at the 10th percentile to $45.10 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.65 an hour on a new hire and $1.78 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Massachusetts
- Coverage required: 1 employee
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners of an unincorporated business excluded by default; may elect in
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 5 days; 21+ days paid retroactively from day one
- Penalty for going without: Immediate stop-work order plus $100 per day, and criminal exposure for willful failure
Massachusetts is an administered-pricing state, so carriers generally cannot compete on base rates the way they do elsewhere.
Massachusetts vs neighboring states
- Connecticut: about $5.50 per $100 of payroll
- New York: about $9.59 per $100 of payroll
- Vermont: about $6.99 per $100 of payroll
Massachusetts has the lowest drywall comp rate in its region; every neighboring state charges more 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 drywall comp bill
- Drywall hangers and tapers usually share one class. Stilt and scaffold falls and lifting injuries are the claims to manage.
- Piece-rate pay is common in drywall. Comp is still charged on the full amount paid, so piece-rate crews do not lower premium.
- Drywall subs without their own coverage are the largest audit risk in this trade. Collect certificates before the first board goes up.
- If you also frame or do acoustic ceilings, those can be separate classes. Record payroll for each kind of work.