South Carolina Painting Workers Comp Rates (2026)
South Carolina 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 South Carolina figure.
No official South Carolina figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
South 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 South Carolina
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 2,080 painters on payrolls in South Carolina (May 2025), the 29th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $19.64 an hour, 17% below the US median of $23.75.
This trade is a smaller part of the South Carolina job market than it is nationally: painters hold 0.62 times their national share of jobs there.
At the US median of $4.43 per $100 of payroll (South Carolina does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.87 for every hour worked, or $1,810 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $5,429 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. South Carolina pay runs from $13.10 an hour at the 10th percentile to $27.65 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.58 an hour on a new hire and $1.22 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in South Carolina
- Coverage required: 4+ employees
- Owners and sole proprietors: Excluded by default; may elect in if actively engaged
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive if disability exceeds 14 days
- Penalty for going without: Up to $100 per day uninsured; the employer is personally liable for all benefits
South Carolina's statutory-employer doctrine makes a general contractor liable for an uninsured subcontractor's employees regardless of the GC's own headcount.
South Carolina vs neighboring states
- Georgia: about $9.72 per $100 of payroll
- North Carolina: about $4.17 per $100 of payroll
South Carolina does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, North Carolina is the cheapest for painting comp at about $4.17 and Georgia the most expensive at about $9.72 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.