Most-quoted workers' comp class codes and rates
Rates are expressed as dollars per $100 of annual payroll before your experience modifier, carrier scheduled credits, and any state assessments. California runs materially higher than Arizona and Nevada on nearly every code, which is why the same crew can cost twice as much to insure across a state line.
| NCCI | CA (WCIRB) | Operation | CA rate | AZ / NV rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8835 | 8859(1) | Home health care & home infusion — traveling caregivers, nurses, aides | $3.50 – $6.50 | $1.80 – $3.60 |
| 8829 | 8829 | Convalescent or nursing home — all employees | $4.00 – $7.50 | $2.20 – $4.20 |
| 9051 | 8859(2) | Non-medical home care / personal attendant, companion care | $3.00 – $5.75 | $1.60 – $3.20 |
| 5645 | 5697 | Carpentry — detached one- or two-family dwellings | $10.00 – $18.00 | $6.00 – $11.00 |
| 5403 | 5403 | Carpentry — commercial / NOC | $8.00 – $14.00 | $4.50 – $9.00 |
| 5474 | 5474 | Painting or paperhanging NOC | $8.00 – $13.00 | $4.00 – $8.00 |
| 5183 | 5183 | Plumbing NOC — including gas fitting and drain cleaning | $4.50 – $8.00 | $2.50 – $5.00 |
| 5537 | 5538 | HVAC — installation, service and repair | $5.00 – $9.00 | $3.00 – $5.50 |
| 5190 | 5190 | Electrical wiring — within buildings | $3.50 – $6.50 | $2.00 – $4.00 |
| 5606 | 5606 | Project manager / construction executive supervisor (no manual labor) | $0.80 – $2.00 | $0.40 – $1.20 |
| 9014 | 9008 | Janitorial / building service contractors | $4.50 – $8.00 | $2.20 – $4.50 |
| 0917 | 0918 | Residential house cleaning — domestic service, inside | $4.00 – $7.00 | $2.00 – $4.00 |
| 9102 | 0042 | Landscape gardening & lawn maintenance | $6.00 – $11.00 | $3.50 – $6.50 |
| 9082 | 9079 | Restaurant — table service, all employees | $3.00 – $5.50 | $1.40 – $2.80 |
| 9083 | 9079 | Restaurant — fast food / limited service | $2.50 – $4.50 | $1.20 – $2.60 |
| 7228 | 7219 | Trucking — local hauling only, under 200 miles | $8.00 – $15.00 | $5.00 – $10.00 |
| 7229 | 7219 | Trucking — long distance, over 200 miles | $9.00 – $17.00 | $5.50 – $11.00 |
| 7382 | 7382 | Bus / van operations — NEMT and paratransit drivers | $7.00 – $13.00 | $4.00 – $8.00 |
| 8810 | 8810 | Clerical office employees — no outside duties | $0.30 – $0.60 | $0.15 – $0.40 |
| 8742 | 8742 | Outside sales, marketing and estimators | $0.40 – $0.90 | $0.20 – $0.55 |
Ranges are typical market rates KTL sees in these trades for 2026 and are for planning only. Filed rates vary by carrier, payroll size, loss history, and program eligibility.
Estimate your workers' comp premium
Enter your trade, state, and payroll to see a starting range built from these class-code rates. It is a benchmark before shopping — we quote the same submission across 15+ carriers, and the spread between the cheapest and most expensive is routinely 30 to 50 percent.
How a class code becomes a premium
The math is simple and worth knowing before you compare quotes:
(Annual payroll ÷ 100) × class code rate × experience modifier = manual premium
A janitorial company with $400,000 of payroll in code 9014 at $6.00 per $100 pays roughly $24,000 before credits. Move $80,000 of that payroll into clerical 8810 legitimately — a full-time office manager who never cleans — and the same policy drops by about $4,600. That is the whole game: correct codes, clean payroll records, and a broker who defends the classification at audit.
Where misclassification costs employers money
Putting field staff in a clerical code
8810 clerical is the cheapest code on most policies, so it is the one most often abused. The rule is strict: an employee who spends any time in the shop, on a job site, or in a client's home cannot be split into 8810. One field visit disqualifies the whole payroll for that person, and the auditor will move it at the higher rate — retroactively, for the full policy term.
Home care agencies coded as a facility
Traveling caregivers belong in a home health code, not a nursing home code. In California the WCIRB splits 8859 into medical (1) and non-medical (2) sub-codes; using the wrong side of that split can move your rate by two dollars per $100 of payroll on every caregiver.
Residential vs commercial construction codes
Carpentry on detached dwellings (5645) is rated materially higher than commercial carpentry (5403). Contractors doing both need separate, verifiable payroll records by job type; without them the carrier assigns everything to the highest-rated code you touch.
Uninsured subcontractors
Any sub who cannot produce a valid workers' comp certificate for the full period of the job gets added to your payroll at audit, usually at your highest-rated code. Collect certificates before work starts, not at renewal — this is the single most common audit bill we see.
Governing class code rules
Most policies are built around one governing class code plus standard exceptions (clerical, outside sales, drivers in some states). You cannot simply add a second, cheaper code because part of the work looks different. The classification manual decides, and the carrier's auditor applies it.
State differences that change your code
California. The WCIRB writes its own classification and experience rating rules, publishes advisory pure premium rates, and audits aggressively. Dual wage construction classifications mean the same carpentry work is rated differently above and below an hourly wage threshold, so payroll records need hourly detail, not just totals.
Arizona. NCCI codes apply, coverage is compulsory for essentially all employees, and rates run well below California. Arizona is a competitive-rating state, so carrier selection moves the number more than it does in a state-fund market.
Nevada. NCCI codes apply and coverage is mandatory from the first employee, with no small-employer exemption. Recent legislation tightened penalties for operating without coverage and shortened certain claim-handling deadlines — see our Nevada workers' comp law changes guide.
Think your code is wrong?
Send us your current policy declarations page and last payroll audit. We will review the classifications, check your experience modifier for errors, and quote the corrected exposure across 15+ carriers.