South Carolina Flooring Workers Comp Rates (2026)
South Carolina 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 South Carolina figure.
No official South Carolina figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
South Carolina 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 South Carolina
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 170 floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles on payrolls in South Carolina (May 2025), the 32nd largest workforce of the 44 states with published figures. The median wage is $23.97 an hour, 12% below the US median of $27.15.
This trade is a smaller part of the South Carolina job market than it is nationally: floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles hold 0.48 times their national share of jobs there.
At the US median of $2.94 per $100 of payroll (South Carolina does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.70 for every hour worked, or $1,466 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $2,932 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. South Carolina pay runs from $17.73 an hour at the 10th percentile to $28.00 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.52 an hour on a new hire and $0.82 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in South Carolina
- Coverage required: 4+ employees
- Owners and sole proprietors: Excluded by default; may elect in if actively engaged
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive if disability exceeds 14 days
- Penalty for going without: Up to $100 per day uninsured; the employer is personally liable for all benefits
South Carolina's statutory-employer doctrine makes a general contractor liable for an uninsured subcontractor's employees regardless of the GC's own headcount.
South Carolina vs neighboring states
- Georgia: about $4.35 per $100 of payroll
- North Carolina: about $1.88 per $100 of payroll
South Carolina does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, North Carolina is the cheapest for flooring comp at about $1.88 and Georgia the most expensive at about $4.35 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 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.