Ohio workers' comp rates 2026-27: BWC base rates per $100 of payroll

How Ohio prices comp: one state fund, one rate rule

Ohio law lets an employer meet its workers’ comp duty by paying premiums into the BWC state insurance fund or by qualifying as a self-insuring employer⁠⁶. Contracts that undertake to insure an employer against its liability for compensation are void⁠⁷, so private carriers cannot sell the cover. The BWC administrator sets the class base rates by rule. Rule 4123-17-06 sets those for private employers for the payroll period July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027⁠¹.

The rate you pay is set by rule 4123-17-03: the base rate for each class unless you are experience rated, and then your experience modification times the base rate for each class⁠³. Rule 4123-17-03 bars experience modification below a minimum amount of expected losses⁠³; the first credibility group in the rule 4123-17-05.1 appendix starts at $2,000⁠¹¹, so below that the employer pays the base rate. The EM compares your actual losses in the experience period with those expected for your classes, so two roofers can pay different rates in the same class (see how the experience modification works).

Class descriptions come from the classification of occupations that Ohio adopts by rule, based on the NCCI classification⁠². A rate is not a premium until it meets payroll: premium = payroll ÷ 100 × rate, summed over your classes. For how a payroll is split among classes see workers’ comp class codes.

What is in the rate, and what is not

The base rate is the only per-class charge in the schedule. BWC’s appendix states that base rates do not include assessments from the Disabled Workers’ Relief Fund (DWRF)⁠¹. For private employers both DWRF assessments are currently zero: $0.00 per $100 of payroll for pre-1987 injuries, and 0% of premium for post-1986 injuries⁠⁴. The blended rate (base rate plus DWRF) therefore equals the base rate for a private employer in the 2026 policy year⁠⁴.

Rule 4123-17-36 sets administrative cost contributions only for state-agency public employers (19.43% for BWC and the board, 7.81% for the Industrial Commission, of premium)⁠¹². Public-employer rates are different from this schedule and are not shown here.

The minimum is $120 a year. If you report no payroll, or your computed premium is below $120, the charge is $120⁠⁵.

2026-27 base rates for common Ohio classes

The table lists 40 classes covering office, retail, restaurant, health and child care, cleaning, building trades, landscaping, auto repair and trucking. The lookup above it searches all 501 classes. Rates are per $100 of payroll before any EM, group discount or other adjustment⁠¹.

Complete schedule: Ohio rates as a CSV file (501 classes) or the official file.

Source: Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (Ohio Administrative Code 4123-17-06, Appendix A), Bureau of Workers' Compensation Base Rates Effective July 1, 2026 (private employers). Rates per $100 of payroll, before the employer’s experience modification. Checked 13 Oct 2026.

What the 2026-27 schedule shows

The range is very wide. The lowest rate is $0.0129 (8603) and the highest $37.0869 (9179, contact sports); the median of 501 classes is $1.3390 (our calculation from⁠¹). Roofing (5551, $5.7709) costs about 124 times clerical office work (8810, $0.0466) per $100 of payroll (our calculation).

Ohio splits building trades finely. Carpentry is $1.7131 (5403 NOC) and $1.7832 for cabinet and interior trim (5437), but $3.4595 for residential framing up to three stories (5645). Painting NOC (5474) is $2.0794 and shop-only painting (9501) $1.3679. Plumbing (5183, $1.4612) and electrical wiring within buildings (5190, $1.0889) sit below most trades⁠¹.

Driving classes are costly. Trucking NOC (7219) is $4.2527; parcel or package delivery trucking (7230) is $7.5780 and delivery and courier service (7231) $6.5566⁠¹.

Care and service work is mid-range. Child care centers (8869) $0.5945, restaurants NOC (9082) $0.5338, fast food (9083) $0.6834, home and traveling health care (8835) $1.2567, janitorial without high window cleaning (9014) $1.3559 and with it (9170) $4.8702⁠¹.

Group rating, group-retro and other discount programs

Ohio’s discounts work around the base rate, not inside the schedule.

• Group experience rating. An employer joins a group in its industry through a sponsor and is rated on combined experience. BWC says the maximum discount is 53%, and marketing a larger one violates Ohio law⁠⁸.
• Group-retrospective rating. A voluntary program in which BWC-certified sponsors form groups of employers with strong safety and claims management. Members still pay their own premiums, and the group’s combined results produce a refund or an assessment⁠⁹.
• Other programs. BWC publishes a chart showing which discount programs can be combined, and a Grow Ohio program for new employers with an automatic 25% discount or an immediate group-rating option⁠¹⁰.

Worked example: a trim carpenter with an office

This is our calculation, using 2026-27 base rates⁠¹. Assume a remodeling firm that reports $350,000 of payroll in class 5437 (carpentry, cabinet or interior trim, $1.7832) and $60,000 in 8810 (clerical, $0.0466), and an EM of 0.85 that we assume for illustration (it is not any employer’s real EM).

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Each EM point moves the carpentry line far more than the office line: the 15% credit saves $936.18 on 5437 and $4.19 on 8810. If the office were a stand-alone business with $60,000 of clerical payroll, the computed premium of $27.96 would fall under the minimum and the charge would be $120⁠⁵. If actual 5437 payroll came in at $400,000, the extra $50,000 would add $891.60 at an EM of 1.00 (our calculation). The workers’ comp calculator runs the same arithmetic.

Payroll reporting and the true-up

Private employers pay estimated annual premium in the June before the policy year⁠⁶, and the rates apply to the payroll period July 1 to June 30⁠¹. The employer then files a payroll report, and the administrator adjusts the premium against it⁠⁶.

What BWC coverage leaves out

The BWC fund pays statutory compensation. Ohio law voids insurance of that liability from private carriers⁠⁷.

Self-insurance

An employer with sufficient financial and administrative ability can apply to BWC to self-insure. Statutory requirements include at least two years of operation in Ohio, which the administrator may waive, and certified financial records for the current and previous four years⁠⁶. Self-insurers do not pay base-rate premiums, so the schedule above does not apply to them.

Sources

1. 1
   Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Rule 4123-17-06, Appendix A: Base rates effective July 1, 2026 (private employers) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Rule 4123-17-04: Classification of occupations or industries (numerical index, effective July 1, 2026) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Rule 4123-17-03: Premium rates and experience rating Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Rule 4123-17-29: Disabled Workers' Relief Fund assessments Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Rule 4123-17-26: Minimum administrative charge Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Ohio Legislative Service Commission, Ohio Revised Code 4123.35: Premium payment; self-insuring employers Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Ohio Legislative Service Commission, Ohio Revised Code 4123.82: Void insurance contracts Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Group-experience-rating overview Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Group-retrospective rating Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
10. 10
    Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Employer programs Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
11. 11
    Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Rule 4123-17-05.1: Expected losses and credibility (Appendix A) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
12. 12
    Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, Rule 4123-17-36: Administrative cost contributions, public employers Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

Spotted an outdated figure? Report an error