Tennessee Plumbing Workers Comp Rates (2026)
Tennessee does not publish its plumbing class figures online. Across the 26 states that do, the median typical premium is about $2.25 per $100 of payroll. Ask a carrier or the state's rating bureau for the current Tennessee figure.
No official Tennessee figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
Tennessee class code for plumbing
- 5183: Plumbing NOC & Drivers
- 5188 (Sprinkler Installation & Drivers)
Plumbing work involves back strain, cuts, burns from soldering and hot water, and work in crawl spaces and other confined spaces.
What comp costs per plumber in Tennessee
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 9,270 plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters on payrolls in Tennessee (May 2025), the 19th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $28.17 an hour, 8% below the US median of $30.67.
Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters make up about the same share of Tennessee jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.94).
At the US median of $2.25 per $100 of payroll (Tennessee does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.63 for every hour worked, or $1,318 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $2,637 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Tennessee pay runs from $18.52 an hour at the 10th percentile to $39.43 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.42 an hour on a new hire and $0.89 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Tennessee
- Coverage required: 5+ employees; 1 for construction
- Owners and sole proprietors: Construction owners may exempt themselves via the state registry; employees must be covered
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive to day one if disability lasts more than 14 days
- Penalty for going without: Civil penalties $50-$10,000 or 1.5x the avoided premium; an injury while uninsured escalates to a misdemeanor
Tennessee runs an Uninsured Employers Fund, financed by penalties, that pays workers injured by illegally uninsured employers.
Tennessee vs neighboring states
- Alabama: about $1.99 per $100 of payroll
- Georgia: about $1.88 per $100 of payroll
- Missouri: about $3.27 per $100 of payroll
- North Carolina: about $1.95 per $100 of payroll
Tennessee does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, Georgia is the cheapest for plumbing comp at about $1.88 and Missouri the most expensive at about $3.27 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 plumbing comp bill
- Plumbing rates sit in the middle of the construction classes; the swing comes from your experience mod. Trench and excavation injuries are the costly claims, so trench-safety training pays back quickly.
- Some states split residential and commercial plumbing into different classes. If you do both, make sure the payroll for each is recorded so the cheaper work is not rated at the higher class.
- Apprentices carry the same class rate as journeymen, but their lower wages mean less premium per hour. Your payroll mix matters as much as the rate.
- Uninsured subs (excavators, drywall patchers) get added to your payroll at audit unless you collect certificates before they start.