West Palm Beach concrete contractors: workers' comp rates and a real payroll example
Palm Beach County has 134 concrete contractor businesses. Class 5213 is $5.184 per $100 of payroll; a 4-person West Palm Beach crew runs about $11,353 a year.
Concrete businesses in Palm Beach County
According to County Business Patterns, 5,243 people worked at 134 poured concrete foundation and structure contractors (NAICS 238110) establishments in Palm Beach County in 2023.
That is 7.4% of the 1,804 such establishments statewide, and the second highest count among the nine counties that hold the ten cities in this guide series.
Divide their reported annual payroll by headcount and the average is about $54,692 per employee, the base your premium is calculated on.
Narrowing to ZIP codes with a West Palm Beach postal address, the same Census program lists 42 concrete contractor establishments in 2023.
Concrete firms make up 2.5% of the 5,449 construction establishments in Palm Beach County.
For concrete contractor firms, Palm Beach County's average pay of $54,692 sits above Leon County ($46,767) and below Duval County ($55,465).
In the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro, 3,490 people worked as cement masons and concrete finishers in May 2024, earning a median $22.80 an hour against $22.34 for Florida as a whole.
At that metro median, one full-time worker earns about $47,430 a year, which adds roughly $2,459 of class 5213 premium.
2026 Florida class codes and rates
| Class | What it covers | Rate per $100 payroll | FWCJUA minimum premium |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5213 | Concrete construction NOC | $5.184 | $2,900 |
| 5221 | Concrete or cement work — floors, driveways, yards and sidewalks | $3.873 | $2,900 |
Rates are the 2026 Florida manual rates published by the FWCJUA, matching the NCCI filing approved by the Office of Insurance Regulation for policies effective on or after January 1, 2026.
Worked example for a West Palm Beach crew
Take a 4-person West Palm Beach crew paid the county average: $219,000 of annual payroll in class 5213.
At $5.184 per $100, the manual premium is about $11,353 a year, or about $2,838 per employee, before your experience modifier, credits and fees.
A West Palm Beach business that ends up in the FWCJUA, Florida's market of last resort, pays a 93% surcharge in Tier 1 or 183% in Tiers 2 and 3, about $21,911 or $32,129 on that payroll.
The same crew doing only flatwork in 5221 at $3.873 would be about $8,482.
The experience modifier then moves that number: at a 0.85 mod the West Palm Beach crew would pay about $9,650, and at a 1.25 mod about $14,191.
These West Palm Beach figures are an illustration from public data; a real quote uses your own payroll and loss history.
Class 5213 manual premium by headcount at Palm Beach County average pay
| Employees | Annual payroll | Manual premium |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $55,000 | $2,851 |
| 3 | $164,000 | $8,502 |
| 4 | $219,000 | $11,353 |
| 10 | $547,000 | $28,356 |
| 20 | $1,094,000 | $56,713 |
How concrete contractors are classified
Concrete payroll usually sits in two classes. Structural work, such as foundations, tilt-wall, columns and elevated slabs, is 5213 at $5.184 per $100. Flatwork, such as driveways, sidewalks, patios and slab-on-grade floors, is 5221 at $3.873. The difference is meaningful, so a contractor doing both should track each job by type. Pump-truck operation and ready-mix delivery have their own codes.
Usually included
- Foundations, footings and columns (5213)
- Elevated slabs and decks (5213)
- Driveways, sidewalks and slab-on-grade floors (5221)
- Forming and finishing crews
Rated separately
- Concrete pumping operators
- Ready-mix delivery drivers
- Clerical staff (8810)
At audit
- Track structural pours (5213) separately from flatwork (5221) job by job; the rate gap is large enough to matter at audit.
- Pump operators and ready-mix drivers are classified apart from the finishing crew.
Permits and licensing in West Palm Beach
In West Palm Beach, the City of West Palm Beach Building Division handles building and right-of-way permits for foundations, slabs and driveways. Under section 440.103 of Florida law, a concrete business has to show proof of workers' comp or an exemption to receive a building permit.
The West Palm Beach Building Division takes permit applications, payments and inspection requests online, and county contractors are certified and insured through Palm Beach County's Contractor Regulations section. The county notes that as of July 1, 2025, several county construction trade scopes were preempted by state law and no longer need a county certificate of competency, so it is worth confirming which license a given trade needs before bidding. West Palm Beach is the county seat, and downtown office and residential towers sit next to older neighborhoods with steady renovation work.
West Palm Beach combines downtown office and residential towers, a large renovation market in historic neighborhoods such as El Cid and Flamingo Park, and high-end residential work across the bridges on Palm Beach island. Estate and luxury jobs are labor-intensive and often long, so payroll can grow quickly on a single project. Many contractors here work across several Palm Beach County cities, each with its own permit office, while county contractor certification is handled centrally on Jog Road. Downtown, the Brightline station has drawn new office and residential towers to the blocks around it, while the city's own water utility and its projects at the water treatment plant bring public work. Across the Intracoastal, work on Palm Beach island follows the town's own seasonal construction restrictions, which compress schedules into the off-season.
- Palm Beach County sits just outside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone but inside the wind-borne debris region, so impact-rated openings are common on exterior jobs.
- Luxury residential and estate work on the island and in the suburbs is labor-heavy, which shows up directly in payroll.
Common claims for concrete contractors in West Palm Beach
West Palm Beach concrete crews pour foundations for custom homes and elevated slabs for downtown residential and office towers. Coastal concrete work includes seawall caps and elevated slabs, adding work near water and at height.
- Back and knee injuries from screeding and finishing
- Chemical burns from wet cement on skin
- Struck-by injuries from pump booms and formwork
- Falls from elevated forms and decks
- Heat illness during early-morning pours that run into midday
What to have ready for a West Palm Beach concrete quote
- Payroll for your West Palm Beach concrete work, split by class (5213, 5221) and with office staff listed separately
- Certificates or exemptions for every sub on your West Palm Beach jobs, checked in the Proof of Coverage database
- Three years of loss runs for the concrete business, plus your current experience modifier if you have one
- Recent permits pulled with the City of West Palm Beach Building Division, which show the volume and type of West Palm Beach work
- Any jobs planned outside Palm Beach County or outside Florida this year, so the policy covers them
Get a workers' comp quote for your West Palm Beach concrete business
Send your payroll by class and your loss runs, and a licensed Bright Coast agent will shop the carriers writing concrete contractors in Palm Beach County. Certificates can be issued the same day for qualified accounts.
Questions from West Palm Beach concrete contractors
How much is workers' comp for a concrete business in West Palm Beach?
Florida rates are set statewide, so a West Palm Beach business pays the same $5.184 per $100 of payroll for class 5213 as anywhere else in the state. What changes is payroll: at Palm Beach County's 2023 average of about $54,692 per employee, each worker adds roughly $2,838 of manual premium a year before your experience modifier and credits.
How many concrete contractor businesses operate in West Palm Beach?
The Census Bureau's 2023 ZIP Code Business Patterns lists 42 concrete contractor establishments in ZIP codes with a West Palm Beach postal address, out of 134 across Palm Beach County and 1,804 statewide. Every one of them with employees has to carry Florida workers' comp, so certificates are routine in West Palm Beach bids.
Where do concrete contractors in West Palm Beach get permits, and is proof of coverage required?
Permits inside West Palm Beach come from the City of West Palm Beach Building Division. County-level trade licensing in Palm Beach County runs through Palm Beach County Contractor Regulations. Construction employers in West Palm Beach need workers' comp from their first hire; the policy or exemption shows up in the state's Proof of Coverage records that permit offices check.
What records keep concrete payroll in the right code?
A job log that notes whether each pour was structural or flatwork, with crew hours by job. That lets the auditor split payroll between 5213 and 5221 instead of placing all of it in the higher-rated class.
Do I still need a Palm Beach County certificate of competency?
It depends on the trade. Palm Beach County says that since July 1, 2025, several county trade scopes are preempted by state law and no longer require a county certificate. Check the county's contractor regulations page for your trade before bidding, and keep your insurance certificates on file with the county either way.
Does hurricane season change workers' comp costs for concrete contractors in West Palm Beach?
Not the rate itself. Workers' comp is billed on actual payroll, so a busy post-storm season in West Palm Beach shows up at audit as additional premium. Reporting the higher payroll during the year spreads that cost out instead of leaving one large bill at the end.
Sources
- Florida DBPR, Construction Industry Licensing Board
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 (metropolitan areas and Florida)
- U.S. Census Bureau, ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023 (establishments by size class, ZIPs grouped by postal city)
- Florida Statutes, Section 440.103 — Building permits; proof of workers' compensation coverage
- Florida Workers' Compensation Joint Underwriting Association, 2026 rates and minimum premiums by class
- Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, Commissioner approves 6.9% workers' compensation rate decrease effective January 1, 2026
- NCCI, Florida rate filing effective January 1, 2026
- FWCJUA, Bulletin 25-9: 2026 Tier 1, 2 and 3 surcharges
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 (establishments, employment and annual payroll by county and NAICS)
- Florida Statutes, Section 440.02 — Definitions (employer, construction industry, corporate officers)
- Florida Statutes, Section 440.05 — Election of exemption
- Florida Statutes, Section 440.10 — Liability for compensation (contractors and subcontractors)
- Florida Statutes, Section 440.107 — Compliance, stop-work orders and penalties
- Florida Division of Workers' Compensation, Proof of Coverage database
- U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census population, QuickFacts
- City of West Palm Beach, Building Division
- Palm Beach County, Contractor Regulations
- NOAA National Hurricane Center, Tropical cyclone climatology (Atlantic season June 1 – November 30)
Reviewed 2026-10-13. Rates and figures are for illustration; a quote depends on your payroll, classifications, experience modifier and carrier.