Arkansas Roofing Workers Comp Rates (2026)
Arkansas does not publish its roofing class figures online. Across the 26 states that do, the median typical premium is about $11.21 per $100 of payroll. Ask a carrier or the state's rating bureau for the current Arkansas figure.
No official Arkansas figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
Arkansas class code for roofing
- 5551: Roofing - All Kinds & Drivers
Falls are the main hazard in roofing. In 2023 roofing contractors accounted for 110 fatal falls, 26 percent of all fatal falls in construction (BLS).
What comp costs per roofer in Arkansas
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 950 roofers on payrolls in Arkansas (May 2025), the 33rd largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $22.82 an hour, 14% below the US median of $26.65.
Roofers make up about the same share of Arkansas jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.84).
At the US median of $11.21 per $100 of payroll (Arkansas does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $2.56 for every hour worked, or $5,321 a year full time. A 4-person crew comes to roughly $21,284 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Arkansas pay runs from $15.00 an hour at the 10th percentile to $28.02 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $1.68 an hour on a new hire and $3.14 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Arkansas
- Coverage required: 3+ employees; 2 for construction, 1 if the contractor subcontracts work out
- Owners and sole proprietors: Excluded by default; owners file a Certificate of Non-Coverage to stay exempt
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive if disability exceeds 14 days
- Penalty for going without: Civil penalties, stop-work orders, and criminal exposure for knowing failure
Arkansas steps the construction threshold down to two employees, or one for any contractor who subcontracts work out.
Arkansas vs neighboring states
Arkansas does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, Texas is the cheapest for roofing comp at about $2.92 and Missouri the most expensive at about $15.20 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 roofing comp bill
- Falls drive roofing claims, and one serious fall can push your experience mod well above 1.0 for three policy years. A written fall-protection plan and documented toolbox talks are what carriers ask to see before they offer a safety credit.
- Uninsured subcontractors are the most common audit surprise in roofing. If a sub cannot show you a certificate of insurance, the auditor adds what you paid them to your own payroll at the roofing rate.
- Estimators and salespeople who never go on a roof can often be classed separately at a far lower rate, but only if your payroll records show their hours apart from field work.
- Overtime premium (the extra half in time and a half) is excluded from comp payroll in most states. Record it separately so you are not charged the roofing rate on it.