West Virginia Roofing Workers Comp Rates (2026)
The published West Virginia loss cost for roofing workers comp, class 5551 (Roofing - All Kinds & Drivers), is $2.218 per $100 of payroll (effective January 1, 2026). Carriers multiply it by their own filed multiplier, so a typical premium is about $3.33.
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.
West Virginia 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 West Virginia
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 440 roofers on payrolls in West Virginia (May 2025), the 41st largest workforce among the 50 states and DC. The median wage is $24.60 an hour, 8% below the US median of $26.65.
This trade is a smaller part of the West Virginia job market than it is nationally: roofers hold 0.73 times their national share of jobs there.
At a typical West Virginia premium of about $3.33 per $100 of payroll (the published loss cost of $2.22 for class 5551 times a 1.5 carrier multiplier), comp on one worker at that wage costs about $0.82 for every hour worked, or $1,704 a year full time. A 4-person crew comes to roughly $6,816 a year in premium before any experience mod.
Because premium is charged on payroll, who you hire moves the bill. West Virginia pay runs from $13.78 an hour at the 10th percentile to $33.57 at the 90th, so the same rate costs $0.46 an hour on a new hire and $1.12 on a senior hand.
Workers comp requirements in West Virginia
- Coverage required: Any employee (from the first)
- Owners and sole proprietors: Owners not required to cover themselves; may elect in
- State fund: Private market (fully privatized in 2008)
- Waiting period: 3 days; retroactive only if lost time exceeds 7 consecutive days
- Penalty for going without: An uninsured employer loses statutory immunity and can be sued in tort
West Virginia is the most recent state to fully privatize, ending a roughly 90-year monopolistic fund in 2008.
West Virginia vs neighboring states
- Ohio: about $5.77 per $100 of payroll
- Pennsylvania: about $11.32 per $100 of payroll
West Virginia has the lowest roofing comp rate in its region; every neighboring state charges more 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.