Workers' Comp Rates for Amusement Park or Exhibition Operation & Drivers (Class Code 9016)
Last verified: 2026-05-13 · Reviewed against NCCI and state rating-bureau filings — how we verify
Description
Covers fixed-location amusement park or exhibition operations, including premises care, gate and box-office staff, security, musicians, and drivers; ride or device operation and separately classified restaurant, retail, or theater operations may need separate codes.
Common Businesses
Hazard Group
D
Filed Figures Published
2
states · class percentile 53
Filed Figures for Class Code 9016 in the States That Publish Them
Copied from each state's own regulator or rating bureau filing, per $100 of payroll. A loss cost is what the filing calls it — your insurer multiplies it by its own loss cost multiplier; a rate is a manual rate. States not listed publish no per-class figure this site has transcribed.
Judged only from filed tables, code 9016 has a class percentile of 53 (0 = the cheapest class, 100 = the most expensive) across the 2 filings that list it.
How States Rank for Class Code 9016
Cost index 1.00 = the median of the 47 rated states. It is a relative position from this site’s model, not a price, and it does not vary by class code; a state’s filed figure, where it publishes one, is shown beside it. North Dakota, Ohio, Washington and Wyoming are not included. Each is a monopolistic state fund that sets premium on its own basis rather than on an NCCI class-code rate per $100 of payroll, so there is no comparable figure to average or rank.
| State | Cost index | Filed figure | Filing effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana | 0.73 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Texas | 0.74 | — | 2026-07-01 |
| Virginia | 0.78 | — | 2026-04-01 |
| Utah | 0.79 | — | 2026-02-01 |
| Arkansas | 0.82 | — | 2026-07-01 |
| Colorado | 0.83 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| South Dakota | 0.83 | — | 2026-07-01 |
| Arizona | 0.86 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Nebraska | 0.88 | — | 2026-02-01 |
| North Carolina | 0.88 | — | 2026-04-01 |
| Idaho | 0.89 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Tennessee | 0.89 | — | 2026-10-01 |
| Kansas | 0.90 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Mississippi | 0.91 | — | 2026-03-01 |
| New Mexico | 0.92 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Kentucky | 0.93 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| South Carolina | 0.93 | — | 2026-04-01 |
| Iowa | 0.95 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Missouri | 0.96 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Nevada | 0.97 | — | 2026-03-01 |
| Georgia | 0.98 | — | 2026-03-01 |
| Maryland | 0.98 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Oregon | 0.99 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| West Virginia | 1.00 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Alabama | 1.01 | — | 2026-03-01 |
| Minnesota | 1.01 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| New Hampshire | 1.01 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Wisconsin | 1.01 | $2.387 rate | 2026-10-01 |
| Delaware | 1.03 | — | 2025-12-01 |
| Maine | 1.03 | — | 2025-04-01 |
| Rhode Island | 1.04 | — | 2026-08-01 |
| Michigan | 1.05 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Vermont | 1.05 | — | 2026-04-01 |
| New York | 1.06 | $2.152 loss cost | 2026-10-01 |
| Florida | 1.07 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Montana | 1.07 | — | 2026-07-01 |
| District of Columbia | 1.10 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Massachusetts | 1.10 | — | 2024-07-01 |
| Oklahoma | 1.10 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Illinois | 1.12 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Connecticut | 1.14 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Louisiana | 1.17 | — | 2026-05-01 |
| Hawaii | 1.20 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Pennsylvania | 1.20 | — | 2026-04-01 |
| New Jersey | 1.21 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| Alaska | 1.33 | — | 2026-01-01 |
| California | 1.34 | — | 2026-09-01 |
A filed rate — or a loss cost times your insurer's multiplier — is step 1 of the eight-step rating-bureau premium algorithm. See what your carrier applies after that, or work out premium for code 9016 with your own rate, payroll and experience mod.
Related Class Codes
9058
Hotel - Restaurant Employees
Hazard Group: C
9052
Hotel NOC - All Other Employees & Drivers
Hazard Group: C
9061
Club NOC - All Employees
Hazard Group: C
9071
Bowling Alley - All Employees
Hazard Group: C
7520
Amusement Ride Operation
Hazard Group: D
About Class Code 9016: Scope, Inclusions, and Common Misclassifications
NCCI Class Code 9016 — "Amusement Park or Exhibition Operation & Drivers" — is the fixed-location amusement park and exhibition operation code. It is meant for the employer running the park or exhibition premises: gate and box-office staff, security, musicians, premises maintenance, drivers connected with the operation, and employees caring for the facility's heating, lighting, power, or elevator equipment.
The old site label for this page treated 9016 as a broad carnival and ride-operator code. Bureau manuals draw a narrower line. Traveling carnival, circus, and amusement-device operations are handled separately, and many operations inside the park — ride/device operation, restaurants, retail stores, theaters, boat liveries, or other separately classified concessions — may need their own class code when the payroll is distinct.
What's Included Under Class Code 9016
NYCIRB describes 9016 as applying to employers engaged in operating amusement parks or exhibitions at a fixed location. The included work is the care, custody, and maintenance of the premises; operation of elevators or heating, lighting, and power apparatus; security people; musicians; box-office employees; gate attendants; and drivers tied to the park or exhibition operation.
NCRB's NCCI-derived manual text also points to smaller fixed-location attractions that can fall under the 9016 family, including archery ranges, ball or dart throwing at targets, baseball batting ranges, golf driving ranges, miniature golf courses, public tennis courts, air-rifle shooting galleries, and maintenance of pony tracks. That makes 9016 broader than a theme-park gate crew, but still tied to fixed-location amusement or exhibition operations rather than traveling carnivals.
Trade shows, fairs, outdoor flea markets, ski-tow equipment operations, and bungee-jumping operations are examples NYCIRB lists by analogy. The practical test is whether the employer is operating the fixed venue or exhibition experience itself, not merely selling a product or running a separate restaurant, retail, theater, or ride-device business on the grounds.
9016 vs Ride Operators, Traveling Carnivals, and Concessions
The biggest 9016 audit dispute is ride operation. NYCIRB and NCRB both separate the operation or maintenance of amusement devices from the fixed park or exhibition operation. A park's box-office, gate, security, and premises employees may be 9016, while employees whose primary work is operating, maintaining, dismantling, or transporting rides may belong in a ride/device classification instead. Do not assume that every worker at a theme park shares one 9016 code.
Traveling carnivals and circuses are a second boundary. A mobile enterprise that dismantles, transports, re-erects, operates, and maintains equipment from venue to venue is not the same risk as a fixed park or exhibition. Bureau manuals classify traveling carnival, circus, and amusement-device operators separately because the transportation, setup, and teardown hazards are materially different.
Food, retail, entertainment, and service concessions need a separate look. Bureau manuals warn that operations separately classified elsewhere — for example restaurants, retail stores, janitorial contractors, theaters, bowling lanes, billiard halls, boat liveries, garages, or bathhouses — do not automatically become 9016 just because they sit inside an amusement park or exhibition. If payroll records separate the concession from the park operation, the concession should usually follow its own governing code.
Common 9016 Misclassifications
The first misclassification is the all-employees shortcut. A payroll record that puts gate attendants, ride mechanics, food-service staff, retail clerks, and traveling setup crews all under 9016 can understate or overstate the actual risk. Auditors usually test job duties first: who operates the fixed premises, who operates or repairs devices, who sells food or merchandise, and who travels with equipment.
The second misclassification is treating a leased or independent concession as part of the park. If a third-party vendor operates a restaurant, souvenir stand, game booth, or retail shop on the grounds, the vendor's payroll generally follows the vendor's own operation rather than the park operator's 9016 classification. Even when the park owns the concession, separate payroll records may be needed when the work is separately classified in the manual.
The third misclassification is using 9016 for a portable event business. Fairs and exhibitions at a fixed location can fit 9016, but a company whose main work is hauling, setting up, and operating portable amusement equipment across multiple venues has a different exposure. The transportation, assembly, teardown, and device-maintenance work should be verified before accepting a 9016 quote.
Sources
- NYCIRB Classification Digest — Class 9016 Dashboard (retrieved 2026-05-13)
- NYCIRB New York Manual — Classification Code Interpretations for 9016 (retrieved 2026-05-13)
- NCRB Circular C-25-6 — Revisions to the Workers Compensation Basic Manual, 9016 classification text (retrieved 2026-05-13)
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is workers' comp class code 9016?
- Workers' comp class code 9016 is the NCCI classification for Amusement Park or Exhibition Operation & Drivers at a fixed location. It can include premises maintenance, gate attendants, box-office employees, security, musicians, power or elevator apparatus employees, and drivers connected with the park or exhibition operation. It is not a blanket code for every worker at a carnival, theme park, restaurant, retail shop, or ride operation.
- How much is workers' comp insurance for class code 9016?
- It depends on the state, and only some states publish a per-class figure. For class code 9016, the filed figures per $100 of payroll are: New York $2.152 (loss cost, NYCIRB, effective 2026-10-01); Wisconsin $2.387 (rate, WCRB, effective 2026-10-01). A loss cost is not a rate — your insurer multiplies it by its own loss cost multiplier — and every figure is before your experience modification. For other states this site shows a relative cost index, not a dollar figure. North Dakota, Ohio, Washington and Wyoming are not included. Each is a monopolistic state fund that sets premium on its own basis rather than on an NCCI class-code rate per $100 of payroll, so there is no comparable figure to average or rank.
- What businesses use workers' comp class code 9016?
- Class code 9016 typically applies to Amusement parks, Fixed exhibitions, Trade shows, Outdoor flea markets, Miniature golf courses.
- Does class code 9016 cover amusement ride operators?
- Not automatically. Bureau manuals separate the operation or maintenance of amusement devices from the fixed amusement park or exhibition operation. A park's premises, gate, box-office, and security employees may be 9016, while employees operating or maintaining rides may need a separate ride/device classification. The correct split depends on the state's bureau manual and the employer's payroll records.
- Is a traveling carnival class code 9016?
- Usually no. Class code 9016 is for fixed-location amusement park or exhibition operation. Traveling carnival, circus, or amusement-device employers have different transportation, setup, teardown, and equipment-operation hazards, and bureau manuals classify those operations separately. If the business moves from venue to venue with portable rides or booths, verify the traveling-operation classification before using 9016.
- Are restaurants and retail shops inside an amusement park included in 9016?
- They may need separate classification. Bureau manuals exclude operations separately classified elsewhere, including restaurants, retail stores, theaters, bowling lanes, boat liveries, garages, and similar concessions, whether they are run by the park owner, a lessee, or an independent concession. Keep payroll separated by operation so the audit can apply the right code instead of forcing everything into 9016.
- What is the workers' comp rate for class code 9016?
- The rate for class code 9016 varies by state and by carrier. This page shows filed 9016 figures for the states that publish them and ranks the other states with a relative cost index rather than a per-$100 figure, but actual premium also depends on payroll, the carrier's loss-cost multiplier, the employer's experience modification factor, minimum-premium rules, and whether ride/device, food-service, retail, or traveling-event payroll must be split to another code. Treat the figures here as reference points, not quotes.
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