Kentucky Roofing Workers Comp Rates (2026)
Kentucky 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 Kentucky figure.
No official Kentucky figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
Kentucky 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 Kentucky
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 1,080 roofers on payrolls in Kentucky (May 2025), the 31st largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $22.57 an hour, 15% below the US median of $26.65.
This trade is a smaller part of the Kentucky job market than it is nationally: roofers hold 0.62 times their national share of jobs there.
At the US median of $11.21 per $100 of payroll (Kentucky does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $2.53 for every hour worked, or $5,263 a year full time. A 4-person crew comes to roughly $21,050 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Kentucky pay runs from $18.38 an hour at the 10th percentile to $31.48 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $2.06 an hour on a new hire and $3.53 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Kentucky
- Coverage required: 1 employee
- Owners and sole proprietors: Excluded by default; may elect in; officers may elect out
- State fund: Competitive state fund (Kentucky Employers' Mutual, KEMI)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive if disability lasts 14+ days
- Penalty for going without: $100-$1,000 fine per employee, per day without coverage
Kentucky's uninsured-employer fine is assessed per employee, per day, so exposure compounds quickly.
Kentucky vs neighboring states
- Indiana: about $4.59 per $100 of payroll
- Missouri: about $15.20 per $100 of payroll
- Ohio: about $5.77 per $100 of payroll
- West Virginia: about $3.33 per $100 of payroll
Kentucky does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, West Virginia is the cheapest for roofing comp at about $3.33 and Missouri the most expensive at about $15.20 per $100 of payroll.
Working across the line into Ohio needs separate coverage from that state's fund. A private policy's other-states coverage (item 3.C) does not reach monopolistic states.
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.