Louisiana Electrical Workers Comp Rates (2026)
Louisiana does not publish its electrical class figures online. Across the 26 states that do, the median typical premium is about $1.90 per $100 of payroll. Ask a carrier or the state's rating bureau for the current Louisiana figure.
No official Louisiana figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
Louisiana class code for electrical
- 5190: Electrical Wiring - Within Buildings
- 7538 (Electric Light or Power Line Construction & Drivers)
Electrical work carries shock, arc flash and fall hazards. Outside power line construction is a separate class, 7538.
What comp costs per electrician in Louisiana
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 10,550 electricians on payrolls in Louisiana (May 2025), the 27th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $29.59 an hour, 3% below the US median of $30.38.
Electricians make up about the same share of Louisiana jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 1.12).
At the US median of $1.90 per $100 of payroll (Louisiana does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.56 for every hour worked, or $1,169 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $2,339 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Louisiana pay runs from $18.63 an hour at the 10th percentile to $39.33 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.35 an hour on a new hire and $0.75 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Louisiana
- Coverage required: 1 employee
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners with no employees exempt; the general contractor is a statutory employer for an uninsured sub's workers
- State fund: Competitive state fund (Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corporation)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive only if disability extends beyond 6 weeks
- Penalty for going without: $250 first offense up to $10,000, plus up to a year in jail and full benefit liability
Louisiana reimburses the waiting period only if disability lasts more than six weeks, one of the longest triggers in the country.
Louisiana vs neighboring states
- Texas: about $1.24 per $100 of payroll
Louisiana does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, Texas is the cheapest for electrical comp at about $1.24 and Texas the most expensive at about $1.24 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 electrical comp bill
- Electrical is one of the cheaper construction classes, so overstated payroll often costs more than the rate itself. Estimate payroll honestly at renewal and true it up at audit.
- Ladder falls and shocks are the typical claims. Lockout and tagout procedures that are actually followed are what keep the experience mod under 1.0.
- Low-voltage, alarm, and solar work can carry different class codes in some states. Ask your agent before you add those lines to the business.
- Office staff and estimators who stay out of the field can usually be rated as clerical. Keep their hours off the field timesheets.