Workers' Compensation Rates in Indiana (2026)

How Indiana Class Codes and Rates Are Set

Indiana uses four-digit class codes that look like NCCI codes and largely track the national Scopes Manual scheme, but the codes, scope interpretations, and the rate dollar attached to each are administered by the Indiana Compensation Rating Bureau (ICRB), not NCCI. The ICRB develops the rates from Indiana-only data and files them with the Indiana Department of Insurance for a January 1 effective date. If you are comparing an Indiana class code to the same code in an NCCI state, expect the rate to differ — Indiana's data, expense provisions, and competitive-rating history are its own.

Because Indiana is a competitive-rating state, the ICRB advisory rate is a benchmark rather than a fixed price. A carrier can write at the advisory rate or file an approved deviation above or below it, and it then applies your experience modification factor and any schedule credits or debits. Your premium is approximately the ICRB class-code rate (or the carrier's deviated rate) × experience modification × payroll/100, plus or minus schedule rating. Comparing carriers' deviations is the Indiana equivalent of comparing loss-cost multipliers in an NCCI state.

Who Must Carry Coverage in Indiana

Indiana requires workers' compensation coverage for essentially every employer with one or more employees, full-time or part-time, under the Indiana Worker's Compensation Act (Indiana Code Title 22, Article 3). There is no general small-business head-count exemption. A narrow set of workers — certain household and casual employees, some agricultural labor, and real estate agents paid by commission — fall outside the Act, but the default rule for private employers is the one-employee threshold.

Sole proprietors and partners are not automatically covered on themselves and may elect inclusion if they want their own benefits. Corporate officers and LLC members are generally treated as employees and counted toward coverage, though Indiana permits certain officers and owners to exclude themselves. Genuinely independent contractors are not counted, but Indiana scrutinizes misclassification, particularly in construction, where the state runs an Independent Contractor certification process through the Workers' Compensation Board and the Department of Revenue. The Workers' Compensation Board enforces the coverage mandate.

Which Indiana Class Code Applies to a Job Like Yours

There is no Indiana workers' comp class code for a job title. ICRB's filed classification rules state that "it is the business of the employer within a state that is classified, not separate employments, occupations or operations within the business" — so "general construction labor", "machinist", or "CNC operator" is not a code you look up but work that sits inside whichever classification describes the employer's business. Verified against ICRB's published classification rules on 2026-08-10. The purpose ICRB gives for the system is "to group employers with similar operations into classifications" so that the rate reflects the loss exposure common to those employers — employers, not job descriptions.

Two rules then decide the number. At a specific job or location, ICRB defines the governing classification as "the classification, other than a standard exception classification, that produces the greatest amount of payroll" (Basic Manual rule BM-GOVE-GA32D). Standard exception classifications are the narrow set of occupations ICRB's rules pull out of the business classification — clerical office employees, outside sales, and drivers are the familiar ones. That combination is why a data-entry clerk at an Indiana machine shop can sit in the clerical standard exception while the machinists on the floor take the classification that describes the shop, such as 3632 Machine Shop NOC or 3685 Machinist NOC, rather than each employee carrying a code chosen from a job title.

Which manual governs matters more in Indiana than in an NCCI state. ICRB has adopted the NCCI Basic Manual — 2021 Edition, and says plainly that "the Basic Manual is the only manual regarding class codes that is filed and approved in the State of Indiana; the Scopes Manual is a mere supplement." If you are arguing an Indiana classification with a carrier or an auditor, a Scopes Manual quotation is useful background but is not the filed authority in this state — the Basic Manual is. That inverts the habit most multi-state employers bring from NCCI states, where day-to-day classification arguments are made out of Scopes phraseology.

To confirm an actual code, ICRB's Classification Code Rates & Look-up page routes employers to NCCI's class-code search, which lists NCCI and Indiana-specific class codes "in both numeric and alpha formats" — the alpha listing is the one to use when you know the work but not the number. ICRB also states that it "is responsible for the accuracy of classification assignments" and runs the inspection and audit process behind them, so a code you believe is wrong is an ICRB question rather than only a carrier question. The rate table on this page covers the Indiana codes this site tracks and is a filing-based benchmark, not the complete Indiana classification list.