Michigan Painting Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published Michigan pure premium for painting workers comp, class 5476 (Painting or Paper Hanging - NOC), is $1.526 per $100 of payroll (effective January 1, 2026). Carriers multiply it by their own filed multiplier, so a typical premium is about $2.29.
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.
Michigan class code for painting
- 5476: Painting or Paper Hanging - NOC
Michigan is an independent bureau state that uses NCCI-style four-digit codes (the manual contains NCCI copyrighted material) but has Michigan-specific classes for several trades, e.g. 5476 painting instead of 5474, 5550 HVAC instead of 5537, a 5551 pitched vs 5552 flat roofing split, and 9521 for carpet and resilient flooring instead of 5478.
Painting carries ladder fall risk, solvent exposure and lead paint hazards in buildings built before 1978.
What comp costs per painter in Michigan
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 4,920 painters on payrolls in Michigan (May 2025), the 13th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $24.35 an hour, 3% above the US median of $23.75.
Painters make up about the same share of Michigan jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.77).
At a typical Michigan premium of about $2.29 per $100 of payroll (the published pure premium of $1.53 for class 5476 times a 1.5 carrier multiplier), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.56 for every hour worked, or $1,160 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $3,480 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Michigan pay runs from $18.00 an hour at the 10th percentile to $36.38 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.41 an hour on a new hire and $0.83 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Michigan
- Coverage required: 3+ employees, or 1 employee working 35+ hours/week for 13+ weeks
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners excluded for themselves; officers may exclude themselves if they own 10%+
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 7 days; first week also retroactive if disability continues 14+ days
- Penalty for going without: Misdemeanor: up to $1,000 and/or 6 months jail, each day a separate offense
Michigan pays wage loss at 80% of after-tax average weekly wage, not the roughly two-thirds of gross most states use.
Michigan vs neighboring states
- Indiana: about $2.12 per $100 of payroll
- Ohio: about $2.08 per $100 of payroll
- Wisconsin: about $4.71 per $100 of payroll
Among its neighbors, Ohio is the cheapest for painting comp at $2.08 and Wisconsin the most expensive at $4.71 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 painting comp bill
- Painting rates are set by height and surface: interior repaint work and exterior or industrial painting can fall into different classes in many states. Describe your mix accurately at quote time.
- Ladder and scaffold falls are the costly claims. Scaffold training and inspection logs help when you ask a carrier for safety credits.
- Painting crews lean on 1099 labor. Without a certificate of insurance on file, the auditor will add those payments to your payroll.
- Seasonal exterior work makes payroll hard to forecast. Estimate the year, not your busiest month, so the deposit and the audit stay close.