Oregon Landscaping Workers Comp Rates 2026: Class Code, Cost

Landscaping workers comp in Oregon 2026: the state's class code, rate, cost per worker from BLS wages, and neighboring states.

Oregon Landscaping Workers Comp Rates (2026)

The published Oregon pure premium for landscaping workers comp, class 0042 (Landscape Gardening and Drivers), is $2.201 per $100 of payroll (effective January 1, 2026). Carriers multiply it by their own filed multiplier, so a typical premium is about $3.30.

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.

Oregon 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 Oregon

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 11,870 landscaping and groundskeeping workers on payrolls in Oregon (May 2025), the 27th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $21.65 an hour, 15% above the US median of $18.82.

Landscaping and groundskeeping workers make up about the same share of Oregon jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.99).

At a typical Oregon premium of about $3.30 per $100 of payroll (the published pure premium of $2.20 for class 0042 times a 1.5 carrier multiplier), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.71 for every hour worked, or $1,486 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $4,458 a year in premium before any experience mod.

Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Oregon pay runs from $17.25 an hour at the 10th percentile to $28.34 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.57 an hour on a new hire and $0.94 on a senior hand.

Workers comp requirements in Oregon

  • Coverage required: 1 employee
  • Owners and sole proprietors: Owners and 10%+ officers excluded by default; personal coverage only if the insurer accepts a written election
  • State fund: Competitive state fund (SAIF Corporation)
  • Waiting period: 3 days; retroactive if off 14 consecutive days or hospitalized overnight within 14 days
  • Penalty for going without: $1,000 or twice the premium owed, plus $250 per day and personal liability for benefits

Oregon restores the waiting period retroactively if a worker is hospitalized overnight within the first 14 days, not only through the standard consecutive-day trigger.

Oregon vs neighboring states

Oregon has the lowest landscaping comp rate in its region; every neighboring state charges more per $100 of payroll.

Working across the line into Washington 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.

Related Oregon Landscaping pages