North Carolina Painting Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published North Carolina loss cost for painting workers comp, class 5474 (Painting or Paperhanging NOC and Shop Operations, Drivers), is $2.780 per $100 of payroll (effective April 1, 2026). Carriers multiply it by their own filed multiplier, so a typical premium is about $4.17.
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.
North Carolina 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 North Carolina
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 5,220 painters on payrolls in North Carolina (May 2025), the 11th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $21.21 an hour, 11% below the US median of $23.75.
This trade is a smaller part of the North Carolina job market than it is nationally: painters hold 0.73 times their national share of jobs there.
At a typical North Carolina premium of about $4.17 per $100 of payroll (the published loss cost of $2.78 for class 5474 times a 1.5 carrier multiplier), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.88 for every hour worked, or $1,840 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $5,519 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. North Carolina pay runs from $16.06 an hour at the 10th percentile to $28.03 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.67 an hour on a new hire and $1.17 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in North Carolina
- Coverage required: 3+ employees (including construction); 1 if any work involves radiation
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners, partners, and LLC members not auto-counted as employees; may elect in
- State fund: Private market (NC Rate Bureau residual plan)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive to day one if disability extends beyond 21 days
- Penalty for going without: $1-$100 per employee per day; first offense a misdemeanor, repeats a felony
North Carolina keeps its three-employee threshold even for construction and sets rates through the independent NC Rate Bureau.
North Carolina vs neighboring states
- Georgia: about $9.72 per $100 of payroll
North Carolina has the lowest painting comp rate in its region; every neighboring state charges more 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 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.