Montana Flooring Workers Comp Rates (2026)
Montana 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 Montana figure.
No official Montana figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
Montana 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 Montana
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 50 floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles on payrolls in Montana (May 2025), the 43rd largest workforce of the 44 states with published figures. The median wage is $18.13 an hour, 33% below the US median of $27.15.
This trade is a smaller part of the Montana job market than it is nationally: floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles hold 0.62 times their national share of jobs there.
At the US median of $2.94 per $100 of payroll (Montana does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.53 for every hour worked, or $1,109 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $2,217 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Montana pay runs from $13.18 an hour at the 10th percentile to $23.97 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.39 an hour on a new hire and $0.70 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Montana
- Coverage required: 1 employee; out-of-state policies are not accepted for construction work
- Owners and sole proprietors: Excluded by default; construction independent contractors need an Exemption Certificate (ICEC)
- State fund: Competitive state fund (Montana State Fund)
- Waiting period: 4 days (or 32 work hours); retroactive if disability lasts more than 21 days
- Penalty for going without: Double the premium owed (minimum $200), up to $1,000 plus $100 per day, escalating to $50,000
Montana does not accept out-of-state workers comp policies for construction work performed in the state.
Montana vs neighboring states
- Idaho: about $2.74 per $100 of payroll
- North Dakota: about $2.94 per $100 of payroll
- Wyoming: about $2.39 per $100 of payroll
Montana does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, Wyoming is the cheapest for flooring comp at about $2.39 and North Dakota the most expensive at about $2.94 per $100 of payroll.
Working across the line into North Dakota or Wyoming 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.