Wyoming Plumbing Workers Comp Rates (2026)
Wyoming employers buy plumbing workers comp from the state fund. The 2026 base rate for class 238000 (Specialty Trade Contractors) is $2.39 per $100 of payroll, before your experience modifier.
The state fund sets one base rate per class; your experience modifier moves it up or down. Source.
Wyoming class code for plumbing
- 238000: Specialty Trade Contractors
Monopolistic state fund that classifies employers by NAICS industry groups (about 127 classes) instead of NCCI occupational codes, so all specialty trades share one class (238000).
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 Wyoming
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 1,140 plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters on payrolls in Wyoming (May 2025), the 49th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $30.01 an hour, 2% below the US median of $30.67.
This trade is a bigger part of the Wyoming job market than it is nationally: plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters hold 1.4 times their national share of jobs there.
At the Wyoming state fund's 2026 base rate of $2.39 per $100 of payroll for class 238000, comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.72 for every hour worked, or $1,492 a year full time. A 2-person crew comes to roughly $2,984 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Wyoming pay runs from $21.04 an hour at the 10th percentile to $38.48 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.50 an hour on a new hire and $0.92 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Wyoming
- Coverage required: Any employee in construction and other extrahazardous work (occupation-based, not headcount)
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners, partners, and officers excluded; may elect optional coverage by affidavit
- State fund: Monopolistic; coverage only from the state Workers' Safety & Compensation Division
- Waiting period: 3 days
- Penalty for going without: An uninsured employer loses exclusive-remedy protection and can be sued directly
Wyoming triggers coverage by occupation (listed extrahazardous NAICS codes, which include construction) rather than by employee count.
Wyoming vs neighboring states
Wyoming has the lowest plumbing comp rate in its region; every neighboring state charges more per $100 of payroll.
If your crews cross into Colorado or Idaho or Montana or Nebraska or South Dakota or Utah, your Wyoming state-fund coverage does not follow them. Buy a private policy for the out-of-state work, with Wyoming excluded from it.
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.