Oregon Painting Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published Oregon pure premium for painting workers comp, class 5474 (Painting or Paperhanging NOC and Shop Operations, Drivers), is $3.090 per $100 of payroll (effective January 1, 2026). Carriers multiply it by their own filed multiplier, so a typical premium is about $4.63.
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.
Oregon 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 Oregon
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 5,410 painters on payrolls in Oregon (May 2025), the 10th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $23.51 an hour, in line with the US median of $23.75.
This trade is a bigger part of the Oregon job market than it is nationally: painters hold 1.9 times their national share of jobs there.
At a typical Oregon premium of about $4.63 per $100 of payroll (the published pure premium of $3.09 for class 5474 times a 1.5 carrier multiplier), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $1.09 for every hour worked, or $2,264 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $6,792 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Oregon pay runs from $18.39 an hour at the 10th percentile to $35.36 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.85 an hour on a new hire and $1.64 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Oregon
- Coverage required: 1 employee
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners and 10%+ officers excluded by default; personal coverage only if the insurer accepts a written election
- State fund: Competitive state fund (SAIF Corporation)
- Waiting period: 3 days; retroactive if off 14 consecutive days or hospitalized overnight within 14 days
- Penalty for going without: $1,000 or twice the premium owed, plus $250 per day and personal liability for benefits
Oregon restores the waiting period retroactively if a worker is hospitalized overnight within the first 14 days, not only through the standard consecutive-day trigger.
Oregon vs neighboring states
- California: about $8.51 per $100 of payroll
- Idaho: about $5.35 per $100 of payroll
- Washington: about $6.61 per $100 of payroll
Oregon has the lowest painting comp rate in its region; every neighboring state charges more per $100 of payroll.
Working across the line into Washington 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.