Wisconsin Flooring Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published Wisconsin rate for flooring workers comp, class 5478 (Floor Covering Installation - Resilient Flooring - Carpet and Laminate Flooring), is $5.39 per $100 of payroll (effective October 1, 2026). Your experience modifier and any carrier discounts adjust it.
This is the published manual rate, so it already includes carrier expenses. Source.
Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 700 floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles on payrolls in Wisconsin (May 2025), the 11th largest workforce of the 44 states with published figures. The median wage is $25.42 an hour, 6% below the US median of $27.15.
This trade is a bigger part of the Wisconsin job market than it is nationally: floor layers, except carpet, wood, and hard tiles hold 1.6 times their national share of jobs there.
At the published Wisconsin rate of $5.39 per $100 of payroll for class 5478, comp on one worker at that wage costs about $1.37 for every hour worked, or $2,850 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $5,700 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Wisconsin pay runs from $21.41 an hour at the 10th percentile to $41.18 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $1.15 an hour on a new hire and $2.22 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Wisconsin
- Coverage required: 3+ employees, or 1 employee paid $500+ in a calendar quarter
- Owners and sole proprietors: Sole proprietors and partners excluded; may elect in; some closely-held officers excluded
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 3 days; retroactive if disability exceeds 7 days
- Penalty for going without: Twice the premium unpaid or $750 (whichever is greater); a short lapse runs $100 per uninsured day
Wisconsin passed the first constitutional workers comp law in the nation in 1911.
Wisconsin vs neighboring states
Wisconsin has the highest flooring comp rate in its region; every neighboring state charges less 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.