Ohio Landscaping Workers Comp Rates (2026)
Ohio employers buy landscaping workers comp from the state fund. The 2026 base rate for class 0042 (Landscape Gardening and Drivers) is $2.70 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.
Ohio class code for landscaping
- 0042: Landscape Gardening and Drivers
Monopolistic state fund that uses NCCI manual classification numbers but sets its own base rates (about 500 classes) and does not use NCCI loss costs; some NCCI or state-specific codes (e.g. 5436, 5651) are not in Ohio's table.
Landscaping carries equipment, lifting, heat and pesticide exposure risks. Tree pruning and trimming is a separate class (0106).
What comp costs per landscaper in Ohio
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 34,420 landscaping and groundskeeping workers on payrolls in Ohio (May 2025), the 7th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $18.38 an hour, 2% below the US median of $18.82.
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers make up about the same share of Ohio jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 1.01).
At the Ohio state fund's 2026 base rate of $2.70 per $100 of payroll for class 0042, comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.50 for every hour worked, or $1,033 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $3,098 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Ohio pay runs from $13.79 an hour at the 10th percentile to $23.59 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.37 an hour on a new hire and $0.64 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Ohio
- Coverage required: 1 employee
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners with no employees may elect self-coverage; mandatory once any employee is hired
- State fund: Monopolistic; coverage only from the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive to day one if disability exceeds 14 days
- Penalty for going without: Liable for all claim costs during a lapse, BWC penalties, and personal officer liability
Ohio is one of four monopolistic states and offers state-run group-rating and rebate programs unavailable in private-market states.
Ohio vs neighboring states
- Indiana: about $2.31 per $100 of payroll
- Michigan: about $2.51 per $100 of payroll
- Pennsylvania: about $3.73 per $100 of payroll
- West Virginia: about $1.79 per $100 of payroll
Among its neighbors, West Virginia is the cheapest for landscaping comp at $1.79 and Pennsylvania the most expensive at $3.73 per $100 of payroll.
If your crews cross into Indiana or Kentucky or Michigan or Pennsylvania or West Virginia, your Ohio state-fund coverage does not follow them. Buy a private policy for the out-of-state work, with Ohio excluded from it.
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.