South Dakota Flooring Workers Comp Rates (2026)
South Dakota 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 Dakota figure.
No official South Dakota figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
South Dakota 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 Dakota
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 180 floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles on payrolls in South Dakota (May 2025), the 31st largest workforce of the 44 states with published figures. The median wage is $28.33 an hour, 4% above the US median of $27.15.
This trade is a bigger part of the South Dakota job market than it is nationally: floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles hold 2.6 times their national share of jobs there.
At the US median of $2.94 per $100 of payroll (South Dakota does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.83 for every hour worked, or $1,732 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $3,465 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. South Dakota pay runs from $18.33 an hour at the 10th percentile to $34.02 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.54 an hour on a new hire and $1.00 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in South Dakota
- Coverage required: Not mandatory at any headcount (elective for all employers)
- Owners and sole proprietors: Excluded; may elect coverage
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 7 consecutive days; benefits then compute from the injury date
- Penalty for going without: No statutory fine, but an uninsured employer loses exclusive remedy and faces unlimited civil liability
South Dakota is one of only two states (with Texas) where workers comp is not legally mandatory.
South Dakota vs neighboring states
- Iowa: about $2.58 per $100 of payroll
- North Dakota: about $2.94 per $100 of payroll
- Wyoming: about $2.39 per $100 of payroll
South Dakota 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.