Massachusetts Landscaping Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published Massachusetts rate for landscaping workers comp, class 0042 (Landscape Gardening & Drivers (MACI phraseology: Lawn Maintenance - Commercial or Domestic & Drivers)), is $2.29 per $100 of payroll (effective July 1, 2024). Your experience modifier and any carrier discounts adjust it.
This is the published manual rate, so it already includes carrier expenses. Source.
Massachusetts class code for landscaping
- 0042: Landscape Gardening & Drivers (MACI phraseology: Lawn Maintenance - Commercial or Domestic & Drivers)
Massachusetts has its own classification system and manual, with NCCI-style numbers for most trades but its own codes in places (roofing split into 5545 sloped and 5547 flat, no 5537 HVAC class, no 5436), plus a wage-based Massachusetts Construction Classification Premium Adjustment Program (MCCPAP) credit for qualifying construction employers.
Landscaping carries equipment, lifting, heat and pesticide exposure risks. Tree pruning and trimming is a separate class (0106).
What comp costs per landscaper in Massachusetts
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 22,880 landscaping and groundskeeping workers on payrolls in Massachusetts (May 2025), the 13th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $23.40 an hour, 24% above the US median of $18.82.
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers make up about the same share of Massachusetts jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 1.03).
At the published Massachusetts rate of $2.29 per $100 of payroll for class 0042, comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.54 for every hour worked, or $1,115 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $3,344 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Massachusetts pay runs from $18.17 an hour at the 10th percentile to $29.89 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.42 an hour on a new hire and $0.68 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Massachusetts
- Coverage required: 1 employee
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners of an unincorporated business excluded by default; may elect in
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 5 days; 21+ days paid retroactively from day one
- Penalty for going without: Immediate stop-work order plus $100 per day, and criminal exposure for willful failure
Massachusetts is an administered-pricing state, so carriers generally cannot compete on base rates the way they do elsewhere.
Massachusetts vs neighboring states
- Connecticut: about $5.85 per $100 of payroll
- New York: about $2.80 per $100 of payroll
- Vermont: about $4.56 per $100 of payroll
Massachusetts 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.