Wisconsin Roofing Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published Wisconsin rate for roofing workers comp, class 5551 (Roofing All Kinds & Drivers), is $12.79 per $100 of payroll (effective October 1, 2026). Your experience modifier and any carrier discounts adjust it.
This is the published manual rate, so it already includes carrier expenses. Source.
Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 2,400 roofers on payrolls in Wisconsin (May 2025), the 16th largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $28.54 an hour, 7% above the US median of $26.65.
Roofers make up about the same share of Wisconsin jobs as they do nationally (location quotient 0.94).
At the published Wisconsin rate of $12.79 per $100 of payroll for class 5551, comp on one worker at that wage costs about $3.65 for every hour worked, or $7,593 a year full time. A 4-person crew comes to roughly $30,370 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. Wisconsin pay runs from $18.81 an hour at the 10th percentile to $37.68 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $2.41 an hour on a new hire and $4.82 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in Wisconsin
- Coverage required: 3+ employees, or 1 employee paid $500+ in a calendar quarter
- Owners and sole proprietors: Sole proprietors and partners excluded; may elect in; some closely-held officers excluded
- State fund: Private market (no state fund)
- Waiting period: 3 days; retroactive if disability exceeds 7 days
- Penalty for going without: Twice the premium unpaid or $750 (whichever is greater); a short lapse runs $100 per uninsured day
Wisconsin passed the first constitutional workers comp law in the nation in 1911.
Wisconsin vs neighboring states
Wisconsin has the highest roofing comp rate in its region; every neighboring state charges less 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.