Washington workers' comp rates 2026: L&I hourly rates by risk class

Why Washington premiums are priced per hour

Washington law gives an employer two ways to cover its workers: insure with the state fund run by the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), or qualify as a self-insurer⁠¹⁵. There is no private market for the statutory benefits, so there are no competing quotes and no assigned risk plan⁠¹⁰. In fiscal year 2026 the state fund insured about 205,000 employers and charged about $2.8 billion in premiums⁠⁵.

The unit of exposure is the hour. For most businesses the premium is the number of hours employees worked in each risk class multiplied by that class’s hourly rate⁠¹². L&I points out the consequence: in payroll-based states a wage increase collects more premium automatically, while in Washington the amount per hour stays the same until L&I changes the rate⁠⁵. L&I sets rates each fall from expected claim payouts, the size of its contingency reserve and wage inflation, and a high-wage business pays the same hourly rate as a low-wage one in the same class⁠⁵. L&I estimates that under the proposed 2027 rates the system will average $1.50 per $100 of payroll before retrospective-rating refunds⁠⁵.

L&I uses its own system of more than 300 risk classifications⁠⁸. Owners are not automatically included: sole proprietors and partners are excluded from mandatory coverage, and so are certain corporate officers elected or appointed under the articles or bylaws⁠¹⁶.

Four funds in every hourly rate

The rate L&I publishes for a class is the sum of four separate rates, and they are split differently between employer and worker⁠⁹:

• Accident Fund. Wage replacement, permanent partial disability awards, pensions and burial expenses. Paid entirely by the employer.
• Medical Aid Fund. Medical treatment and vocational counselors. Paid half by the employer, half by the worker.
• Stay at Work. Reimburses employers part of the wages, tools and training for injured workers given light-duty jobs. Paid half and half.
• Supplemental Pension Fund. Cost-of-living adjustments to long-term wage replacement and pensions. Paid half and half, and it is the same $0.1912 an hour in 2026 for every hourly class except the two volunteer classes (6901, 6906), which carry none⁠¹.

The worker’s half is a payroll deduction the employer takes. State law requires the employer to deduct half of the medical-benefits premium and makes any deduction from wages the industrial insurance law does not authorize a gross misdemeanor⁠¹⁴. L&I describes Washington as the only state where workers pay a significant portion of the premium, about 24% on average (25% counting retrospective-rating refunds)⁠⁵.

2026 base rates for common Washington classes

The table lists 45 classes that cover office, retail, restaurant, construction, landscaping, janitorial, trucking, auto repair, health care and child-care work. The lookup above it searches all 320 hourly classes in the 2026 file. “Base rate” is the composite rate at an experience factor of 1.0000; “withheld from wages” is the employee’s share at that factor⁠¹.

Complete schedule: Washington rates as a CSV file (320 classes) or the official file.

Source: Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I), 2026 Hourly Rates by Risk Classification Code and Fund. Rates per hour worked, before the employer’s experience modification. Checked 13 Oct 2026.

Wallboard classes 0540, 0541, 0550 and 0551 are charged per square foot of wallboard installed or finished, not per hour, so they are not comparable with the rates above⁠¹⁠¹².

What the 2026 rates show

The pension part dominates low-hazard classes. Clerical office (4904) is $0.2223 an hour, and $0.1912 of that, 86%, is the flat Supplemental Pension rate; the accident, medical and Stay at Work parts together are $0.0311⁠¹ (our calculation). Software and web firms (5302, $0.2061) and accounting and law offices (5301, $0.2427) are in the same position. For these businesses the experience factor has little room to move the bill, because it does not apply to the pension part⁠⁸.

Workers in office classes carry a larger share. The deduction is $0.1007 of the $0.2223 clerical rate, 45%, against $1.0034 of the $5.7930 roofing rate, 17% (our calculation from⁠¹). The more of the rate that sits in the employer-only Accident Fund, the smaller the worker’s percentage.

Construction spreads widely by trade. Roofing (0507) costs about 26 times the clerical rate per hour. Wood-frame building (0510) is $4.6938, exterior painting (0504) $3.7129 and masonry (0302) $3.6401, while electrical wiring (0601) is $1.4370 and interior painting (0521) $1.8962⁠¹. Interior and exterior painting are separate classes, so a painter whose crews do both splits hours between them; the class assignment matters as much as the rate (see how class codes work).

Outdoor and transport work is mid to high. Tree care and pruning (0106) is the highest rate in the table at $7.0142 an hour; lawn care maintenance (0308) is $1.4948. Trucking (1102) is $3.8195, towing (1109) $4.5874 and delivery services (1101) $2.2674⁠¹.

Care work depends on the setting. Physicians’ clinics (6109) are $0.5139 an hour, nursing homes (6108) $0.8372, home health and nursing care (6110) $1.2569 and hospitals not otherwise classified (6105) $1.5527. Schools, churches and day care split into professional and clerical staff (6103, $0.4289) and all other staff (6104, $1.0899)⁠¹.

From base rate to your rate: the experience factor

L&I sets a factor for each business every year and applies it to three of the four funds⁠⁸:

premium rate = experience factor × (Accident + Medical Aid + Stay at Work) + Supplemental Pension

A factor above 1 means L&I expects the business’s claim costs to be higher than average for its classes⁠¹⁰. Rules L&I lists for its plan⁠⁹⁠¹⁰:

1. No size threshold

   Any firm that reported hours during the experience period is experience rated; L&I uses no premium threshold.

2. Three fiscal years, with a lag

   The experience period is the oldest three of the four fiscal years (July to June) before the rate year, so a claim affects premiums for three calendar years.

3. A 25% cap

   A factor cannot change more than 25% from one year to the next, with one exception for firms moving from above 1.3333 to below 1.0.

4. Claim-free discount

   Small firms with no compensable claims in the experience period can earn a discount of 10% to 40%.

5. Workers feel it too

   The factor also changes the employee deduction, because it applies to the Medical Aid and Stay at Work parts the worker shares.

L&I’s own all-class figures assume an average experience factor of 0.91⁠². Each business receives its own rates for the coming year in an annual rate notice in December⁠⁸. More on the mechanism: experience modification rate.

Worked example: a remodeling contractor

This is our calculation, using 2026 fund rates⁠¹ and the L&I formula⁠⁸. Assume a remodeling company in class 0516 (building repair, remodeling and carpentry) whose four carpenters work 2,000 hours in a quarter, and one salaried office manager in class 4904 reported at 480 hours (the 160-hours-a-month method)⁠¹².

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

At factor 1.15 the 0516 rate is 1.15 × ($1.9645 + $0.7621 + $0.0291) + $0.1912 = $3.3603. The carpenters’ hours drive almost all the premium; a 15% higher factor adds $826.80 on their hours but only $2.26 on the office manager’s, because nearly all of the clerical rate is the pension part that the factor does not touch. At 1.15 the employee deduction in 0516 would rise from $0.4912 to about $0.5505 an hour (our calculation; L&I shows each firm’s actual deduction on its rate notice).

Paying the carpenters more would not change these figures. Adding a fifth carpenter for 500 hours would add $1,473.45 at factor 1.0000. The workers’ comp calculator runs the same arithmetic for other hours and classes.

Reporting hours each quarter

L&I bills after the fact. Employers file a quarterly report of hours by class and pay after the quarter ends⁠⁹, with these deadlines⁠¹¹:

There is no minimum premium: a quarter with no hours is reported as “no hours” and costs nothing⁠⁹. Hourly workers are reported at actual hours. Salaried employees may be reported at actual hours or at an assumed 160 hours a month, and outside commission salespeople at actual hours or an assumed 160 hours a month full time (eight hours a day part time); within each group, one method must be used for everyone⁠¹². Employers must keep each worker’s daily hours, class (when hours are split between classes) and deductions for three full calendar years. If records are missing at audit, L&I assumes hours by dividing wages by the class’s average hourly wage and can add penalties⁠¹³.

2026 increase and the proposed 2027 rates

2026 (adopted). L&I raised the average rate 4.9% effective January 1, 2026, about $1.37 more a week per full-time position, after three public hearings⁠³. Its all-classification composite base rate went from $0.7517 to $0.7885 an hour⁠².

2027 (proposed, not adopted as of October 13, 2026). On September 22, 2026 L&I proposed another 4.9% average increase, about $1.44 a week per full-time employee⁠⁴, or about $75 a year before retro refunds⁠⁵. The proposal sets the all-class composite at $0.8274 an hour, while the actuarially indicated rate is $0.9323, an 18.2% increase; L&I plans to cover the difference from its contingency reserve⁠⁶⁠⁴. Public hearings are October 27, 28 and 29, written comments are due by 5 p.m. on October 29, and final rates are to be adopted on November 30, effective January 1, 2027⁠⁴. L&I says 311 of its 326 risk classes would have higher base rates⁠⁵, and the Supplemental Pension rate would rise from $0.1912 to $0.1978 an hour⁠⁷.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Sources: 2026 rates⁠¹, proposed 2027 rates⁠⁷. The school, church and day-care classes and convenience grocery stores face increases more than twice the average; delivery services and excavation would fall. These figures can still change before adoption.

What L&I coverage does not include

An L&I account pays the statutory benefits only. A worker can still sue the employer for an injury caused by the employer’s deliberate intention⁠¹⁷, and an employer can be drawn into suits over employee injuries by third parties. The coverage that answers those claims is employer’s liability, which the state’s Department of Enterprise Services calls “Employer’s Liability (Stop Gap)” and describes as covering defense costs and damages from third-party lawsuits over employees’ work-related injuries⁠¹⁸. Private insurers sell it, so it is a separate purchase with its own premium.

Self-insurance instead of the state fund

An employer can leave the state fund by qualifying as a self-insurer⁠¹⁵. The application includes a nonrefundable fee, three years of audited financial statements and a written accident prevention program. Once approved, the employer must post security by bond, escrow or, only for firms with a net worth over $500 million, a letter of credit, and buy excess insurance⁠¹⁹. By statute the security cannot be less than the employer’s expected annual claim liabilities and never less than $100,000⁠²⁰. Self-insurers file their own quarterly reports and pay assessments partly based on worker hours and partly on claim costs⁠¹⁹. For most small businesses the state fund is the only practical route; the workers’ compensation page covers how other states compare.

Sources

1. 1
   Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, 2026 Hourly Rates by Risk Classification Code and Fund Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
2. 2
   Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, 2026 Rates by Business Type and Risk Class Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
3. 3
   Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Washington workers' comp insurance average premium will rise about 4.9% in 2026 (news release 25-32, November 26, 2025) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
4. 4
   Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Proposed 2027 workers' comp rate increase helps state keep up with rising costs (news release 26-15, September 22, 2026) Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
5. 5
   Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Rates notice: L&I proposes 4.9% average increase in workers' comp rates for 2027 Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
6. 6
   Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Proposed 2027 Rates by Business Type and Risk Class Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
7. 7
   Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Proposed 2027 Hourly Rates by Risk Classification Code and Fund Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
8. 8
   Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Calculating Premium Rates Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
9. 9
   Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Unique Premium Rating Features in Washington Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
10. 10
    Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, Experience Rating Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
11. 11
    Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, File Quarterly Reports Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
12. 12
    Washington State Legislature, WAC 296-17-31021: Units of exposure Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
13. 13
    Washington State Legislature, WAC 296-17-35201: Recordkeeping and retention Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
14. 14
    Washington State Legislature, RCW 51.16.140: Premium liability of worker Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
15. 15
    Washington State Legislature, RCW 51.14.010: Duty to secure payment of compensation Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
16. 16
    Washington State Legislature, RCW 51.12.020: Employments excluded Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
17. 17
    Washington State Legislature, RCW 51.24.020: Action against employer for intentional injury Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
18. 18
    Washington State Department of Enterprise Services, Out of State Workers Compensation FAQs Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
19. 19
    Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, How to Self-Insure Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑
20. 20
    Washington State Legislature, RCW 51.14.020: Self-insurer qualification Checked 13 Oct 2026 · Back to text ↑

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