Virginia Painting Workers Comp Rates (2026)

Virginia 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 Virginia figure.

No official Virginia figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.

Virginia 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 Virginia

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 5,930 painters on payrolls in Virginia (May 2025), the 8th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $22.82 an hour, 4% below the US median of $23.75.

Painters make up about the same share of Virginia jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 1.00).

At the US median of $4.43 per $100 of payroll (Virginia does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $1.01 for every hour worked, or $2,103 a year full time. A 3-person crew comes to roughly $6,308 a year in premium before any experience mod.

Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Virginia pay runs from $17.50 an hour at the 10th percentile to $30.44 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.78 an hour on a new hire and $1.35 on a senior hand.

Workers comp requirements in Virginia

Coverage required: 3+ employees (subcontractor employees count toward the total)
Owners and sole proprietors: No waivers for sole proprietors; officers and working LLC managers count as employees
State fund: Private market (no state fund)
Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive to day one if incapacity exceeds 21 days
Penalty for going without: Up to $250 per day (capped at $50,000), business-closure orders, and possible criminal prosecution

Virginia counts a contractor's subcontractor employees toward the three-employee threshold, so using subs frequently triggers the mandate.

Virginia vs neighboring states

North Carolina: about $4.17 per $100 of payroll
West Virginia: about $1.56 per $100 of payroll

Virginia does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, West Virginia is the cheapest for painting comp at about $1.56 and North Carolina the most expensive at about $4.17 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.