Michigan Landscaping Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published Michigan pure premium for landscaping workers comp, class 0042 (Landscape Gardening), is $1.676 per $100 of payroll (effective January 1, 2026). Carriers multiply it by their own filed multiplier, so a typical premium is about $2.51.
A pure premium 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.
Michigan class code for landscaping
- 0042: Landscape Gardening
Michigan is an independent bureau state that uses NCCI-style four-digit codes (the manual contains NCCI copyrighted material) but has Michigan-specific classes for several trades, e.g. 5476 painting instead of 5474, 5550 HVAC instead of 5537, a 5551 pitched vs 5552 flat roofing split, and 9521 for carpet and resilient flooring instead of 5478.
Landscaping carries equipment, lifting, heat and pesticide exposure risks. Tree pruning and trimming is a separate class (0106).
What comp costs per landscaper in Michigan
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 32,330 landscaping and groundskeeping workers on payrolls in Michigan (May 2025), the 9th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $18.33 an hour, 3% below the US median of $18.82.
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers make up about the same share of Michigan jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 1.20).
At a typical Michigan premium of about $2.51 per $100 of payroll (the published pure premium of $1.68 for class 0042 times a 1.5 carrier multiplier), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.46 for every hour worked, or $957 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $2,871 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Michigan pay runs from $14.41 an hour at the 10th percentile to $23.88 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.36 an hour on a new hire and $0.60 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Michigan
- Coverage required: 3+ employees, or 1 employee working 35+ hours/week for 13+ weeks
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners excluded for themselves; officers may exclude themselves if they own 10%+
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 7 days; first week also retroactive if disability continues 14+ days
- Penalty for going without: Misdemeanor: up to $1,000 and/or 6 months jail, each day a separate offense
Michigan pays wage loss at 80% of after-tax average weekly wage, not the roughly two-thirds of gross most states use.
Michigan vs neighboring states
- Indiana: about $2.31 per $100 of payroll
- Ohio: about $2.70 per $100 of payroll
- Wisconsin: about $4.88 per $100 of payroll
Among its neighbors, Indiana is the cheapest for landscaping comp at $2.31 and Wisconsin the most expensive at $4.88 per $100 of payroll.
Working across the line into Ohio 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 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.