Wyoming Drywall Workers Comp Rates (2026)
Wyoming employers buy drywall workers comp from the state fund. The 2026 base rate for class 238000 (Specialty Trade Contractors) is $2.39 per $100 of payroll, before your experience modifier.
The state fund sets one base rate per class; your experience modifier moves it up or down. Source.
Wyoming class code for drywall
- 238000: Specialty Trade Contractors
Monopolistic state fund that classifies employers by NAICS industry groups (about 127 classes) instead of NCCI occupational codes, so all specialty trades share one class (238000).
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 Wyoming
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 140 drywall and ceiling tile installers on payrolls in Wyoming (May 2025), the 45th largest workforce of the 49 states with published figures. The median wage is $21.15 an hour, 25% below the US median of $28.33.
Drywall and ceiling tile installers make up about the same share of Wyoming jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.92).
At the Wyoming state fund's 2026 base rate of $2.39 per $100 of payroll for class 238000, comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.51 for every hour worked, or $1,051 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $3,154 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Wyoming pay runs from $18.98 an hour at the 10th percentile to $26.67 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.45 an hour on a new hire and $0.64 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Wyoming
- Coverage required: Any employee in construction and other extrahazardous work (occupation-based, not headcount)
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners, partners, and officers excluded; may elect optional coverage by affidavit
- State fund: Monopolistic; coverage only from the state Workers' Safety & Compensation Division
- Waiting period: 3 days
- Penalty for going without: An uninsured employer loses exclusive-remedy protection and can be sued directly
Wyoming triggers coverage by occupation (listed extrahazardous NAICS codes, which include construction) rather than by employee count.
Wyoming vs neighboring states
Wyoming has the lowest drywall comp rate in its region; every neighboring state charges more per $100 of payroll.
If your crews cross into Colorado or Idaho or Montana or Nebraska or South Dakota or Utah, your Wyoming state-fund coverage does not follow them. Buy a private policy for the out-of-state work, with Wyoming excluded from it.
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.