State of the roofing trade, 2026
What roofers earn in every state, where the jobs are, how fast the work is projected to grow, which states license it and what typical roofing jobs cost. Every figure comes from a public dataset or a koira.ai cost guide, with the method below and a CSV of the full table.
The short version
- The national median for roofers is $26.65 an hour ($55,440 a year). Pay runs from $21.00 in Oklahoma to $37.45 in Illinois.
- Florida has the most roofers on payrolls, 23,550. See roofer pay in every state.
- State labor offices project +2.0% more jobs nationally from 2022 to 2032, with about 12,200 openings a year. Utah leads at +30.4%.
- 10 of the 45 states koira.ai has checked require a state license for roofing work, 29 license part of it and 6 leave it to cities and counties. The roofing license guide has each state's steps.
- A typical roof replacement is about $9,350 nationally in Koira's roof replacement cost guide. By state, the Koira estimate runs from $8,061 in Arkansas to $11,507 in Hawaii.
What roofers earn
Median hourly wage by state, May 2025, the ten highest paying states. BLS published a median for 51 of the 50 states and DC.
The five lowest: Oklahoma $21.00, Mississippi $21.61, New Mexico $21.78, Wyoming $21.95 and Alabama $21.96.
| Percentile | Hourly |
|---|---|
| 10th | $18.01 |
| 25th | $22.24 |
| Median | $26.65 |
| 75th | $31.44 |
| 90th | $39.29 |
What that wage means for a price
A wage is not a rate. Using the starting numbers of the free labor rate calculator (40 hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and a 15% profit), a business paying the national median has to bill about $117.39 an hour to cover it.
| Where | Median wage | Rate to bill |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $26.65 | $117.39 |
| Illinois, highest median | $37.45 | $136.36 |
| Oklahoma, lowest median | $21.00 | $107.47 |
Change any of those numbers in the calculator to see your own rate. The CSV has the rate for every state.
Where the work is
The ten states with the most roofers employed, May 2025.
Where the trade is most concentrated
Roofers per 1,000 jobs of every kind in the state. A high number means the trade is a bigger share of local work than it is nationally.
Jobs outlook
State labor market offices project roofers jobs nationally to go from 154,500 in 2022 to 157,600 in 2032, a change of +2.0%, with about 12,200 openings a year from growth, retirements and people leaving the trade.
The BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, on a newer base, projects 5% growth for roofers from 2025 to 2035, about 12,000 openings a year.
The ten states with the fastest projected growth, 2022 to 2032. Projections exist for 48 states.
Slowest: Maine -1.4%, District of Columbia 0.0% and Michigan +0.6%. The path into the trade, state by state, is in how to become a roofer.
Licensing
Does the state require a state license for roofing work? Each answer comes from the state's own board or statute.
- State license: 10 states: Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and Virginia.
- Partly licensed (residential only, above a dollar amount, or a registration): 29. Local only: 6. Not checked yet: 6.
- 36 of the 45 checked states put an insurance or bond rule in the license itself.
What roofing jobs cost
National price ranges from Koira's cost guides. Each guide takes the low, average and high figures of two or more published cost guides and shows them.
| Job | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roof inspection | $220 | $340 | $480 |
| Roof repair | $390 | $1,100 | $1,850 |
| Skylight installation | $1,050 | $1,500 | $2,000 |
| Fascia and soffit repair | $760 | $1,700 | $2,300 |
| Storm damage repair | $2,800 | $8,750 | $14,500 |
| Roof replacement | $5,800 | $9,350 | $13,000 |
| Flat roof replacement | $6,800 | $9,800 | $21,000 |
| Metal roof installation | $7,250 | $18,000 | $28,500 |
| Slate roof installation | $20,000 | $23,500 | $26,000 |
| Tile roof installation | $14,000 | $27,000 | $35,000 |
One job, state by state
Koira estimates of a typical roof replacement in the ten most expensive states. Only the labor share of the price moves with the state's BLS wage; materials do not.
Every state
| State | Median hourly | Employed | Jobs 2022 to 2032 | State license | Typical roof replacement |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $26.65 | 135,490 | +2.0% | 10 states | $9,350 |
| Alabama | $21.96 | 1,010 | +9.3% | Partly | $8,245 |
| Alaska | $32.09 | 310 | +7.7% | Partly | $10,865 |
| Arizona | $22.76 | 3,420 | +15.0% | Yes | $9,207 |
| Arkansas | $22.82 | 950 | +5.8% | Partly | $8,061 |
| California | $30.58 | 21,190 | +14.7% | Yes | $10,492 |
| Colorado | $24.88 | 3,340 | +12.0% | Not checked yet | $9,505 |
| Connecticut | $29.84 | 790 | +10.1% | Partly | $10,488 |
| Delaware | $28.58 | 230 | +6.9% | Partly | $9,332 |
| District of Columbia | $29.69 | 100 | 0.0% | Partly | $10,345 |
| Florida | $22.88 | 23,550 | +16.2% | Yes | $8,390 |
| Georgia | $22.57 | 2,160 | +13.2% | No, local only | $8,431 |
| Hawaii | $28.64 | 1,110 | Not published | Yes | $11,507 |
| Idaho | $27.78 | 1,190 | +22.8% | Partly | $9,031 |
| Illinois | $37.45 | 5,300 | +2.0% | Yes | $11,331 |
| Indiana | $27.88 | 2,980 | +3.6% | No, local only | $9,568 |
| Iowa | $23.39 | 930 | +9.2% | Partly | $9,342 |
| Kansas | $22.69 | 900 | +4.8% | Partly | $8,919 |
| Kentucky | $22.57 | 1,080 | +0.8% | Not checked yet | $8,746 |
| Louisiana | $23.44 | 760 | +6.2% | Partly | $8,445 |
| Maine | $24.10 | 610 | -1.4% | No, local only | $9,423 |
| Maryland | $28.89 | 2,050 | +6.0% | Partly | $9,381 |
| Massachusetts | $34.98 | 1,950 | +6.5% | Partly | $11,039 |
| Michigan | $28.62 | 3,090 | +0.6% | Partly | $9,505 |
| Minnesota | $35.81 | 1,890 | +5.4% | Partly | $10,579 |
| Mississippi | $21.61 | 480 | +20.7% | Partly | $8,149 |
| Missouri | $23.35 | 2,050 | +3.5% | Not checked yet | $9,556 |
| Montana | $28.38 | 370 | +21.5% | Partly | $9,483 |
| Nebraska | $22.34 | 1,730 | +9.0% | Partly | $8,807 |
| Nevada | $24.56 | 2,120 | +8.8% | Yes | $9,556 |
| New Hampshire | $28.76 | 270 | +8.6% | Not checked yet | $9,401 |
| New Jersey | $36.83 | 1,860 | Not published | Partly | $10,661 |
| New Mexico | $21.78 | 1,160 | +12.6% | Yes | $8,441 |
| New York | $31.74 | 4,570 | +2.5% | No, local only | $10,373 |
| North Carolina | $23.56 | 3,060 | +9.0% | Partly | $8,394 |
| North Dakota | $28.72 | 290 | +10.5% | Partly | $9,503 |
| Ohio | $23.74 | 4,610 | +2.0% | Not checked yet | $9,595 |
| Oklahoma | $21.00 | 1,260 | +4.9% | Partly | $8,321 |
| Oregon | $28.35 | 3,430 | +14.2% | Yes | $9,969 |
| Pennsylvania | $26.79 | 3,830 | +2.8% | Partly | $9,442 |
| Rhode Island | $29.63 | 360 | Not published | Partly | $9,679 |
| South Carolina | $22.00 | 850 | +1.7% | Partly | $8,409 |
| South Dakota | $22.94 | 400 | +13.0% | No, local only | $8,462 |
| Tennessee | $21.97 | 2,110 | +14.2% | Partly | $8,500 |
| Texas | $22.13 | 5,740 | +10.7% | No, local only | $8,372 |
| Utah | $23.40 | 2,710 | +30.4% | Yes | $9,125 |
| Vermont | $28.39 | 210 | +8.2% | Partly | $9,368 |
| Virginia | $23.28 | 2,070 | +1.8% | Yes | $9,058 |
| Washington | $29.16 | 5,890 | +11.2% | Partly | $10,853 |
| West Virginia | $24.60 | 440 | +7.1% | Partly | $9,168 |
| Wisconsin | $28.54 | 2,400 | +8.5% | Partly | $9,736 |
| Wyoming | $21.95 | 330 | +24.2% | Not checked yet | $9,370 |
How this report is made
Pay and employment are cells from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics files for May 2025 (state file, national file), occupation code 47-2181, all industries. They count people on a payroll; owner-operators are not in them. A cell BLS did not publish reads "Not published" and is empty in the CSV.
The rate to bill is the labor rate calculator's formula with its starting assumptions listed above and only the wage changed: the yearly cost of the worker plus overhead, spread over the billable hours, then a profit margin on top.
Job projections are each state labor market office's long-term projection for 2022 to 2032, published together by Projections Central. A state missing from that file has no figure here. The national outlook line quotes the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Licensing counts only rows of the roofing license guide that an official board or statute page confirmed. States not checked yet are shown that way, never guessed. This is not legal advice.
Job prices come from the koira.ai cost guides. The national band is worked out from the published guides each one lists. State prices are Koira estimates: the labor share of the band is scaled by the state's BLS median wage for the work over the national median, held to 0.7 to 1.4. See the job prices by state report for the same method across trades.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025; BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Roofers; Projections Central, long-term occupational projections 2022 to 2032 (state labor market offices); Fixr, roof inspection cost; HomeAdvisor, roof inspection cost; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (state and national files); Fixr, roof repair cost; HomeAdvisor, roof repair cost; Bob Vila, roof repair cost; Today's Homeowner, roof repair cost; Fixr, skylight installation cost; Today's Homeowner, skylight installation cost; Fixr, fascia and soffit repair cost; HomeAdvisor, fascia and soffit repair cost; Fixr, storm damage repair cost; HomeAdvisor, storm damage repair cost; Fixr, roof replacement cost; HomeAdvisor, roof replacement cost; Bob Vila, roof replacement cost; Today's Homeowner, roof replacement cost; This Old House, roof replacement cost; Fixr, flat roof replacement cost; This Old House, flat roof replacement cost; Today's Homeowner, flat roof replacement cost; Fixr, metal roof installation cost; HomeAdvisor, metal roof installation cost; Bob Vila, metal roof installation cost; Today's Homeowner, metal roof installation cost; This Old House, metal roof installation cost; Fixr, slate roof installation cost; HomeAdvisor, slate roof installation cost; Today's Homeowner, slate roof installation cost; Fixr, tile roof installation cost; HomeAdvisor, tile roof installation cost; Today's Homeowner, tile roof installation cost.
Running a roofing business? See how roofing businesses run on Koira, free on the Office plan.
Data as of: BLS wages and employment, May 2025. Job projections, 2022 to 2032 (Projections Central). License rows checked October 8, 2026. Cost guides checked October 9, 2026. All reports.