Pennsylvania Flooring Workers Comp Rates (2026)

The published Pennsylvania loss cost for flooring workers comp, class 0670 (House Furnishings Installation, N.O.C.), is $3.393 per $100 of payroll (effective April 1, 2026). Carriers multiply it by their own filed multiplier, so a typical premium is about $5.09.

A loss cost 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.

Pennsylvania class codes for flooring

0648: Carpentry - Installation of Cabinet Work, Finished Wooden Flooring or Interior Trim
0670: House Furnishings Installation, N.O.C.
0668: Tile, Stone, Mosaic or Terrazzo Work - Interior Construction Only Including Marble Setting and Tile Wainscoting, but Excluding Cement Finishing and Structural Glass Block Installation

Pennsylvania uses its own independent classification system of about 330 classes with PCRB code numbers (written as 3-digit codes or with a leading zero, e.g. 659 or 0659) that do not map one-to-one to NCCI codes.

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

What comp costs per flooring installer in Pennsylvania

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 720 floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles on payrolls in Pennsylvania (May 2025), the 9th largest workforce of the 44 states with published figures. The median wage is $28.87 an hour, 6% above the US median of $27.15.

Floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles make up about the same share of Pennsylvania jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.78).

At a typical Pennsylvania premium of about $5.09 per $100 of payroll (the published loss cost of $3.39 for class 0670 times a 1.5 carrier multiplier), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $1.47 for every hour worked, or $3,057 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $6,113 a year in premium before any experience mod.

Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Pennsylvania pay runs from $20.51 an hour at the 10th percentile to $43.25 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $1.04 an hour on a new hire and $2.20 on a senior hand.

Workers comp requirements in Pennsylvania

Coverage required: 1 employee
Owners and sole proprietors: A sole proprietor with no employees is exempt; required once any employee is hired
State fund: Competitive state fund (State Workers' Insurance Fund, SWIF)
Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive to day one if disability lasts more than 14 days
Penalty for going without: Failure to insure is a misdemeanor per day (up to $2,500); intentional failure is a felony (up to $15,000)

Pennsylvania sets rates through the independent PCRB (not NCCI) and runs its own competitive state fund, SWIF.

Pennsylvania vs neighboring states

Delaware: about $4.75 per $100 of payroll
New Jersey: about $8.71 per $100 of payroll
New York: about $3.04 per $100 of payroll
Ohio: about $1.67 per $100 of payroll
West Virginia: about $1.25 per $100 of payroll

Among its neighbors, West Virginia is the cheapest for flooring comp at $1.25 and New Jersey the most expensive at $8.71 per $100 of payroll.

Working across the line into Ohio 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.