Tennessee Landscaping Workers Comp Rates (2026)
Tennessee does not publish its landscaping class figures online. Across the 25 states that do, the median typical premium is about $3.30 per $100 of payroll. Ask a carrier or the state's rating bureau for the current Tennessee figure.
No official Tennessee figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
Tennessee 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 Tennessee
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 18,250 landscaping and groundskeeping workers on payrolls in Tennessee (May 2025), the 20th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $17.80 an hour, 5% below the US median of $18.82.
Landscaping and groundskeeping workers make up about the same share of Tennessee jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.91).
At the US median of $3.30 per $100 of payroll (Tennessee does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.59 for every hour worked, or $1,222 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $3,665 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Tennessee pay runs from $14.17 an hour at the 10th percentile to $22.91 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.47 an hour on a new hire and $0.76 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Tennessee
- Coverage required: 5+ employees; 1 for construction
- Owners and sole proprietors: Construction owners may exempt themselves via the state registry; employees must be covered
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive to day one if disability lasts more than 14 days
- Penalty for going without: Civil penalties $50-$10,000 or 1.5x the avoided premium; an injury while uninsured escalates to a misdemeanor
Tennessee runs an Uninsured Employers Fund, financed by penalties, that pays workers injured by illegally uninsured employers.
Tennessee vs neighboring states
- Alabama: about $2.83 per $100 of payroll
- Georgia: about $4.75 per $100 of payroll
- Missouri: about $6.40 per $100 of payroll
- North Carolina: about $2.42 per $100 of payroll
Tennessee does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, North Carolina is the cheapest for landscaping comp at about $2.42 and Missouri the most expensive at about $6.40 per $100 of payroll.
If your crews work across the line, list those states under item 3.A or 3.C of your policy before the job starts. Rates follow the state where the work is done, not where your office is.
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.