Montana Roofing Workers Comp Rates (2026)
Montana 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 Montana figure.
No official Montana figure is available online, so the numbers below use the US median of the states that publish one.
Montana 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 Montana
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 370 roofers on payrolls in Montana (May 2025), the 43rd largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $28.38 an hour, 6% above the US median of $26.65.
Roofers make up about the same share of Montana jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.82).
At the US median of $11.21 per $100 of payroll (Montana does not publish its figure online), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $3.18 for every hour worked, or $6,617 a year full time. A 4-person crew comes to roughly $26,469 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Montana pay runs from $22.13 an hour at the 10th percentile to $34.58 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $2.48 an hour on a new hire and $3.88 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Montana
- Coverage required: 1 employee; out-of-state policies are not accepted for construction work
- Owners and sole proprietors: Excluded by default; construction independent contractors need an Exemption Certificate (ICEC)
- State fund: Competitive state fund (Montana State Fund)
- Waiting period: 4 days (or 32 work hours); retroactive if disability lasts more than 21 days
- Penalty for going without: Double the premium owed (minimum $200), up to $1,000 plus $100 per day, escalating to $50,000
Montana does not accept out-of-state workers comp policies for construction work performed in the state.
Montana vs neighboring states
- Idaho: about $11.30 per $100 of payroll
- North Dakota: about $3.39 per $100 of payroll
- Wyoming: about $2.39 per $100 of payroll
Montana does not publish its figure, so the first row is the US median. Among neighbors that publish, Wyoming is the cheapest for roofing comp at about $2.39 and Idaho the most expensive at about $11.30 per $100 of payroll.
Working across the line into North Dakota or Wyoming 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.