North Dakota Landscaping Workers Comp Rates (2026)
North Dakota employers buy landscaping workers comp from the state fund. The 2026 base rate for class 0003 (Florists - Nurseries - Gardening Operations) is $1.05 per $100 of payroll, before your experience modifier.
The state fund sets one base rate per class; your experience modifier moves it up or down. Source.
North Dakota class codes for landscaping
- 0003: Florists - Nurseries - Gardening Operations
- 9007: Building Custodians and Janitorial Service
Monopolistic state fund with its own manual of about 140 rate classes; several numbers echo NCCI codes but scopes are broader (for example 5183 covers plumbing, HVAC and sheet metal together, and roofing is 5545 hot process or 5410 cold process).
Landscaping carries equipment, lifting, heat and pesticide exposure risks. Tree pruning and trimming is a separate class (0106).
What comp costs per landscaper in North Dakota
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 2,100 landscaping and groundskeeping workers on payrolls in North Dakota (May 2025), the 48th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $19.61 an hour, 4% above the US median of $18.82.
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers make up about the same share of North Dakota jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.80).
At the North Dakota state fund's 2026 base rate of $1.05 per $100 of payroll for class 0003, comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.21 for every hour worked, or $428 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $1,285 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. North Dakota pay runs from $15.14 an hour at the 10th percentile to $27.69 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.16 an hour on a new hire and $0.29 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in North Dakota
- Coverage required: Any employee (coverage in force before work begins)
- Owners and sole proprietors: Not required to cover self; optional personal coverage through WSI
- State fund: Monopolistic; coverage only from Workforce Safety & Insurance (WSI), no private carriers or self-insurance
- Waiting period: 5 days
- Penalty for going without: Up to $10,000 plus $100 per day, cease-and-desist orders, and liability for claim costs during the lapse
North Dakota is one of only four monopolistic states, and it allows neither private carriers nor self-insurance, only WSI.
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.