Oregon Flooring Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published Oregon pure premium for flooring workers comp, class 5478 (Carpet, Linoleum, Vinyl, or Resilient Flooring Installation - Within Buildings and Drivers), is $1.594 per $100 of payroll (effective January 1, 2026). Carriers multiply it by their own filed multiplier, so a typical premium is about $2.39.
A pure premium covers expected claims only. Each carrier files its own multiplier for expenses; in the states that publish the full list, the median is about 1.5, which is what the typical premium here uses. Your quote can be lower or higher. Source.
Oregon 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 Oregon
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 300 floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles on payrolls in Oregon (May 2025), the 23rd largest workforce of the 44 states with published figures. The median wage is $27.14 an hour, in line with the US median of $27.15.
Floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles make up about the same share of Oregon jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 1.01).
At a typical Oregon premium of about $2.39 per $100 of payroll (the published pure premium of $1.59 for class 5478 times a 1.5 carrier multiplier), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.65 for every hour worked, or $1,349 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $2,698 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Oregon pay runs from $19.55 an hour at the 10th percentile to $43.16 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.47 an hour on a new hire and $1.03 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Oregon
- Coverage required: 1 employee
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners and 10%+ officers excluded by default; personal coverage only if the insurer accepts a written election
- State fund: Competitive state fund (SAIF Corporation)
- Waiting period: 3 days; retroactive if off 14 consecutive days or hospitalized overnight within 14 days
- Penalty for going without: $1,000 or twice the premium owed, plus $250 per day and personal liability for benefits
Oregon restores the waiting period retroactively if a worker is hospitalized overnight within the first 14 days, not only through the standard consecutive-day trigger.
Oregon vs neighboring states
- California: about $4.41 per $100 of payroll
- Idaho: about $2.74 per $100 of payroll
- Washington: about $7.80 per $100 of payroll
Oregon has the lowest flooring comp rate in its region; every neighboring state charges more per $100 of payroll.
Working across the line into Washington 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.