Minnesota Flooring Workers Comp Rates (2026)

Minnesota does not publish its flooring class figures online. Across the 26 states that do, the median typical premium is about $2.94 per $100 of payroll. Ask a carrier or the state's rating bureau for the current Minnesota figure.

No official Minnesota figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.

Minnesota class code for flooring

5478: Floor Covering Installation - Resilient Flooring, Carpet and Laminate Flooring
5437 (Carpentry - Installation of Cabinet Work or Interior Trim, includes wood floor installation and sanding)
5348 (Tile, Stone, Mosaic or Terrazzo Work - Inside)

Flooring carries knee injury, back strain, silica dust from cutting tile or concrete, and adhesive vapor risks.

What comp costs per flooring installer in Minnesota

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 490 floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles on payrolls in Minnesota (May 2025), the 17th largest workforce of the 44 states with published figures. The median wage is $28.55 an hour, 5% above the US median of $27.15.

Floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles make up about the same share of Minnesota jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 1.10).

At the US median of $2.94 per $100 of payroll (Minnesota does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.84 for every hour worked, or $1,746 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $3,492 a year in premium before any experience mod.

Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Minnesota pay runs from $19.06 an hour at the 10th percentile to $47.93 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.56 an hour on a new hire and $1.41 on a senior hand.

Workers comp requirements in Minnesota

Coverage required: 1 employee; no hours or wage floor
Owners and sole proprietors: Sole proprietors, partners, and certain closely-held owners excluded; may elect in
State fund: Private market (no state fund)
Waiting period: 3 days; paid back only if disability continues 10+ days
Penalty for going without: Up to $1,000 per employee per uninsured week; willful failure is a gross misdemeanor

Minnesota's Special Compensation Fund pays injured workers of uninsured employers directly, then recovers from the employer; coverage must also be reported when getting or renewing a state license.

Minnesota vs neighboring states

Iowa: about $2.58 per $100 of payroll
North Dakota: about $2.94 per $100 of payroll
Wisconsin: about $5.39 per $100 of payroll

Minnesota does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, Iowa is the cheapest for flooring comp at about $2.58 and Wisconsin the most expensive at about $5.39 per $100 of payroll.

Working across the line into North Dakota needs separate coverage from that state's fund. A private policy's other-states coverage (item 3.C) does not reach monopolistic states.

What moves a flooring comp bill

Floor installers file knee, back, and repetitive-strain claims more than falls. Kneepads and lifting aids are cheap ways to keep the experience mod down.
Tile, hardwood, and carpet installation can be separate classes in some states. If your crews do several, record payroll by type of work.
Many flooring shops pay installers by the square foot as 1099 subs. If they cannot show their own coverage, the auditor counts what you pay them as your payroll.
Showroom and sales staff who do not install can usually be rated as sales or clerical when their duties are documented.