Louisiana Landscaping Workers Comp Rates (2026)
Louisiana does not publish its landscaping class figures online. Across the 25 states that do, the median typical premium is about $3.30 per $100 of payroll. Ask a carrier or the state's rating bureau for the current Louisiana figure.
No official Louisiana figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
Louisiana class code for landscaping
- 0042: Landscape Gardening & Drivers
- 0106 (Tree Pruning, Spraying & Repairing)
- 6217 (Excavation NOC)
Landscaping carries equipment, lifting, heat and pesticide exposure risks. Tree pruning and trimming is a separate class (0106).
What comp costs per landscaper in Louisiana
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 8,510 landscaping and groundskeeping workers on payrolls in Louisiana (May 2025), the 33rd largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $16.76 an hour, 11% below the US median of $18.82.
This trade is a smaller part of the Louisiana job market than it is nationally: landscaping and groundskeeping workers hold 0.72 times their national share of jobs there.
At the US median of $3.30 per $100 of payroll (Louisiana does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.55 for every hour worked, or $1,150 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $3,451 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Louisiana pay runs from $11.88 an hour at the 10th percentile to $20.52 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.39 an hour on a new hire and $0.68 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Louisiana
- Coverage required: 1 employee
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners with no employees exempt; the general contractor is a statutory employer for an uninsured sub's workers
- State fund: Competitive state fund (Louisiana Workers' Compensation Corporation)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive only if disability extends beyond 6 weeks
- Penalty for going without: $250 first offense up to $10,000, plus up to a year in jail and full benefit liability
Louisiana reimburses the waiting period only if disability lasts more than six weeks, one of the longest triggers in the country.
Louisiana vs neighboring states
- Texas: about $1.37 per $100 of payroll
Louisiana does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, Texas is the cheapest for landscaping comp at about $1.37 and Texas the most expensive at about $1.37 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.