Tennessee Electrical Workers Comp Rates (2026)
Tennessee 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 Tennessee figure.
No official Tennessee figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
Tennessee 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 Tennessee
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 17,070 electricians on payrolls in Tennessee (May 2025), the 16th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $29.37 an hour, 3% below the US median of $30.38.
Electricians make up about the same share of Tennessee jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 1.07).
At the US median of $1.90 per $100 of payroll (Tennessee does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.56 for every hour worked, or $1,161 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $2,321 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Tennessee pay runs from $19.04 an hour at the 10th percentile to $44.31 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.36 an hour on a new hire and $0.84 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Tennessee
- Coverage required: 5+ employees; 1 for construction
- Owners and sole proprietors: Construction owners may exempt themselves via the state registry; employees must be covered
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive to day one if disability lasts more than 14 days
- Penalty for going without: Civil penalties $50-$10,000 or 1.5x the avoided premium; an injury while uninsured escalates to a misdemeanor
Tennessee runs an Uninsured Employers Fund, financed by penalties, that pays workers injured by illegally uninsured employers.
Tennessee vs neighboring states
- Alabama: about $1.87 per $100 of payroll
- Georgia: about $1.95 per $100 of payroll
- Missouri: about $2.81 per $100 of payroll
- North Carolina: about $2.00 per $100 of payroll
Tennessee does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, Alabama is the cheapest for electrical comp at about $1.87 and Missouri the most expensive at about $2.81 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.