Delaware Landscaping Workers Comp Rates 2026: Class Code, Cost

Landscaping workers comp in Delaware 2026: the state's class code, rate, cost per worker from BLS wages, and neighboring states.

Delaware Landscaping Workers Comp Rates (2026)

The published Delaware loss cost for landscaping workers comp, class 0012 (Landscape Contractor or Lawn Cutting or Maintenance Contractor), is $1.760 per $100 of payroll (effective December 1, 2025). Carriers multiply it by their own filed multiplier, so a typical premium is about $2.64.

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.

Delaware class code for landscaping

  • 0012: Landscape Contractor or Lawn Cutting or Maintenance Contractor

Delaware uses its own classification codes (largely the same numbering as Pennsylvania, e.g. 659 Roofing) and gives construction employers a wage-based premium credit through the Delaware Construction Classification Premium Adjustment Program instead of using NCCI codes.

Landscaping carries equipment, lifting, heat and pesticide exposure risks. Tree pruning and trimming is a separate class (0106).

What comp costs per landscaper in Delaware

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 4,130 landscaping and groundskeeping workers on payrolls in Delaware (May 2025), the 43rd largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $17.96 an hour, 5% below the US median of $18.82.

This trade is a bigger part of the Delaware job market than it is nationally: landscaping and groundskeeping workers hold 1.4 times their national share of jobs there.

At a typical Delaware premium of about $2.64 per $100 of payroll (the published loss cost of $1.76 for class 0012 times a 1.5 carrier multiplier), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.47 for every hour worked, or $986 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $2,959 a year in premium before any experience mod.

Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Delaware pay runs from $15.82 an hour at the 10th percentile to $22.41 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.42 an hour on a new hire and $0.59 on a senior hand.

Workers comp requirements in Delaware

  • Coverage required: 1 employee; construction workers cannot be classified as independent contractors
  • Owners and sole proprietors: Excluded by default; may elect in
  • State fund: Private market (Delaware Compensation Rating Bureau residual market)
  • Waiting period: 3 days; retroactive from day one if disability reaches 7 days
  • Penalty for going without: Fine up to three times the annual premium owed, plus $10 per employee per day

Delaware statutorily deems construction crews employees, so they cannot be 1099'd out of the coverage mandate.

Delaware vs neighboring states

Delaware has the lowest landscaping comp rate in its region; every neighboring state charges more 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 landscaping comp bill

  • Landscape gardening is a high-claim class because of mowers, trimmers, chainsaws, and lifting. Equipment training and guards that stay on the machines lower claims.
  • Tree trimming above the ground is usually a separate class with a much higher rate. Keep that payroll apart, or the auditor may rate a whole crew at the tree rate.
  • Snow plowing, hardscaping, and irrigation installs can each be classed differently. Tell your carrier what share of payroll goes to each.
  • Landscaping payroll swings by season. Report the full-year figure at renewal so the audit does not bring a large bill in the off season.

Related Delaware Landscaping pages