Pennsylvania Roofing Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published Pennsylvania loss cost for roofing workers comp, class 0659 (Roofing - All Kinds), is $7.547 per $100 of payroll (effective April 1, 2026). Carriers multiply it by their own filed multiplier, so a typical premium is about $11.32.
A loss cost covers expected claims only. Each carrier files its own multiplier for expenses; in the states that publish the full list, the median is about 1.5, which is what the typical premium here uses. Your quote can be lower or higher. Source.
Pennsylvania class code for roofing
- 0659: Roofing - All Kinds
Pennsylvania uses its own independent classification system of about 330 classes with PCRB code numbers (written as 3-digit codes or with a leading zero, e.g. 659 or 0659) that do not map one-to-one to NCCI codes.
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 Pennsylvania
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 3,830 roofers on payrolls in Pennsylvania (May 2025), the 8th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $26.79 an hour, in line with the US median of $26.65.
This trade is a smaller part of the Pennsylvania job market than it is nationally: roofers hold 0.73 times their national share of jobs there.
At a typical Pennsylvania premium of about $11.32 per $100 of payroll (the published loss cost of $7.55 for class 0659 times a 1.5 carrier multiplier), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $3.03 for every hour worked, or $6,308 a year full time. A 4-person crew comes to roughly $25,231 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Pennsylvania pay runs from $19.46 an hour at the 10th percentile to $36.87 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $2.20 an hour on a new hire and $4.17 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Pennsylvania
- Coverage required: 1 employee
- Owners and sole proprietors: A sole proprietor with no employees is exempt; required once any employee is hired
- State fund: Competitive state fund (State Workers' Insurance Fund, SWIF)
- Waiting period: 7 days; retroactive to day one if disability lasts more than 14 days
- Penalty for going without: Failure to insure is a misdemeanor per day (up to $2,500); intentional failure is a felony (up to $15,000)
Pennsylvania sets rates through the independent PCRB (not NCCI) and runs its own competitive state fund, SWIF.
Pennsylvania vs neighboring states
- Delaware: about $11.40 per $100 of payroll
- New Jersey: about $25.33 per $100 of payroll
- New York: about $13.35 per $100 of payroll
- Ohio: about $5.77 per $100 of payroll
- West Virginia: about $3.33 per $100 of payroll
Among its neighbors, West Virginia is the cheapest for roofing comp at $3.33 and New Jersey the most expensive at $25.33 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.