Pennsylvania Landscaping Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published Pennsylvania loss cost for landscaping workers comp, class 0012 (Landscape Contractor or Lawn Cutting or Maintenance Contractor), is $2.487 per $100 of payroll (effective April 1, 2026). Carriers multiply it by their own filed multiplier, so a typical premium is about $3.73.
A loss cost 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.
Pennsylvania class code for landscaping
- 0012: Landscape Contractor or Lawn Cutting or Maintenance Contractor
Pennsylvania uses its own independent classification system of about 330 classes with PCRB code numbers (written as 3-digit codes or with a leading zero, e.g. 659 or 0659) that do not map one-to-one to NCCI codes.
Landscaping carries equipment, lifting, heat and pesticide exposure risks. Tree pruning and trimming is a separate class (0106).
What comp costs per landscaper in Pennsylvania
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 34,850 landscaping and groundskeeping workers on payrolls in Pennsylvania (May 2025), the 5th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $18.99 an hour, in line with the US median of $18.82.
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers make up about the same share of Pennsylvania jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.94).
At a typical Pennsylvania premium of about $3.73 per $100 of payroll (the published loss cost of $2.49 for class 0012 times a 1.5 carrier multiplier), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.71 for every hour worked, or $1,473 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $4,420 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Pennsylvania pay runs from $14.32 an hour at the 10th percentile to $25.64 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.53 an hour on a new hire and $0.96 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Pennsylvania
- Coverage required: 1 employee
- Owners and sole proprietors: A sole proprietor with no employees is exempt; required once any employee is hired
- State fund: Competitive state fund (State Workers' Insurance Fund, SWIF)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive to day one if disability lasts more than 14 days
- Penalty for going without: Failure to insure is a misdemeanor per day (up to $2,500); intentional failure is a felony (up to $15,000)
Pennsylvania sets rates through the independent PCRB (not NCCI) and runs its own competitive state fund, SWIF.
Pennsylvania vs neighboring states
- Delaware: about $2.64 per $100 of payroll
- New Jersey: about $8.97 per $100 of payroll
- New York: about $2.80 per $100 of payroll
- Ohio: about $2.70 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 New Jersey the most expensive at $8.97 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.