Montana Painting Workers Comp Rates (2026)
Montana does not publish its painting class figures online. Across the 26 states that do, the median typical premium is about $4.43 per $100 of payroll. Ask a carrier or the state's rating bureau for the current Montana figure.
No official Montana figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
Montana class code for painting
- 5474: Painting NOC & Shop Operations, Drivers
- 5037 (Painting: Metal Structures - Over Two Stories in Height & Drivers)
- 5491 (Paperhanging & Drivers)
Painting carries ladder fall risk, solvent exposure and lead paint hazards in buildings built before 1978.
What comp costs per painter in Montana
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 920 painters on payrolls in Montana (May 2025), the 41st largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $28.03 an hour, 18% above the US median of $23.75.
Painters make up about the same share of Montana jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 1.24).
At the US median of $4.43 per $100 of payroll (Montana does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $1.24 for every hour worked, or $2,583 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $7,748 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Montana pay runs from $16.90 an hour at the 10th percentile to $33.42 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.75 an hour on a new hire and $1.48 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Montana
- Coverage required: 1 employee; out-of-state policies are not accepted for construction work
- Owners and sole proprietors: Excluded by default; construction independent contractors need an Exemption Certificate (ICEC)
- State fund: Competitive state fund (Montana State Fund)
- Waiting period: 4 days (or 32 work hours); retroactive if disability lasts more than 21 days
- Penalty for going without: Double the premium owed (minimum $200), up to $1,000 plus $100 per day, escalating to $50,000
Montana does not accept out-of-state workers comp policies for construction work performed in the state.
Montana vs neighboring states
- Idaho: about $5.35 per $100 of payroll
- North Dakota: about $3.85 per $100 of payroll
- Wyoming: about $2.39 per $100 of payroll
Montana does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, Wyoming is the cheapest for painting comp at about $2.39 and Idaho the most expensive at about $5.35 per $100 of payroll.
Working across the line into North Dakota or Wyoming 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.