Plenty of people asking what a new roof costs already have a quote in hand, and the number scared them. Often they have two or three, thousands of dollars apart for what looks like the same roof on the same house.
The gap tells you something. A roofing quote is a list of decisions about your roof, and the cheap bid has usually decided differently on underlayment, flashing, ventilation or what happens when the old shingles come off. This guide prices those decisions one by one, with national cost data where it exists, so you can tell a fair quote from a thin one.
- US average roof replacement, all roofs (HomeAdvisor, 2026)
- $9,609
- Average replacement in 2025 insurance data (Verisk)
- $17,631
- Architectural asphalt, per square foot of roof, installed
- $4–$6
- Roofing labor per square (100 sq ft), before materials
- $200–$300
National figures from HomeAdvisor (June 2026) and the Verisk U.S. Roof Report (May 2026).
What does a new roof cost in 2026?
Two national numbers circulate, and they disagree for good reasons.
| Source | Figure | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| HomeAdvisor, June 2026 | $9,609 average, most between $5,902 and $13,377 | Costs reported by more than 30,000 of its customers, small and simple jobs included |
| Verisk U.S. Roof Report, May 2026 | $17,631 | Average residential replacement in 2025, built from insurance data, up 33% on the 2021 to 2024 average |
All prices in this guide are 2025 to 2026 estimates, installed, before local taxes. Use them to judge a quote, not as a price list.
The HomeAdvisor number is the low one because its sample is full of small roofs and quick jobs. The Verisk number runs high because it tracks roofs replaced through insurance claims after hail and wind, where the adjuster’s estimate tends to list every code item and accessory. A cash job on an ordinary house usually falls between the two.
For a planning number: an architectural asphalt roof costs about $4 to $6 per square foot of roof surface, installed, in HomeAdvisor’s national data, and impact-resistant grades cost more. Everything below explains where your roof sits in that range.
How much roof do you actually have?
Roofers price by the square, which is 100 square feet of roof surface. “$600 a square” means $6 per square foot. And the roof is never the same size as the house.
Two things make it bigger: the slope, and the overhangs at the eaves and gable ends. One thing makes it smaller: a second story. As a rough guide, a one-story 1,600 square foot home might have about 1,700 square feet of roof and a one-story 2,000 square foot home about 2,500, while a 3,000 square foot home may have only about 3,200, because a house that size is usually two stories with a smaller footprint.
To estimate your own, multiply the footprint (ground floor plus attached garage, measured to the edge of the overhangs) by the pitch factor:
| Roof pitch | Multiply footprint by |
|---|---|
| 4/12 (low, walkable) | 1.05 |
| 6/12 (common) | 1.12 |
| 8/12 (steep) | 1.20 |
| 10/12 | 1.30 |
| 12/12 (45 degrees) | 1.41 |
A 1,650 square foot footprint under a 6/12 roof gives about 1,850 square feet, or 18.5 squares. The roofer then orders more than that. The extra is the waste factor: shingles lost to cuts at valleys, hips and edges, plus starter rows and ridge caps. A plain gable wastes little; a roof with lots of hips and valleys wastes much more. A different waste factor is one of the main reasons two roofers come back with different measurements for the same roof, and it is a fair thing to ask about.
| Roof surface | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| 1,200 sq ft (12 squares) | $4,800 | $7,200 |
| 1,700 sq ft (17 squares) | $6,800 | $10,200 |
| 2,500 sq ft (25 squares) | $10,000 | $15,000 |
| 3,200 sq ft (32 squares) | $12,800 | $19,200 |
HomeAdvisor national range for architectural shingles, June 2026, applied to roof surface, not living space. Steep sections, extra layers and decking repair are on top.
Where does the money go in a roofing quote?
National cost data stops at the total, so the clearest picture of what you are paying for is an itemized quote. This is the breakdown of one basic architectural roof, $15,030 on 2,500 square feet of roof, as a Colorado contractor published it in 2026. Local prices differ; the shares are what to compare, and they show why a cheap bid is rarely cheap across the board.
| Line | Share | On a $15,030 job |
|---|---|---|
| Shingles, material and labor | 47% | $7,064 |
| Underlayment, material and labor | 17% | $2,555 |
| Overhead, insurance and profit | 15% | $2,255 |
| Tear-off, dumpster and disposal | 10% | $1,503 |
| Flashing and accessories | 6% | $902 |
| Ventilation | 4% | $601 |
| Permit | 1% | about $150 |
Labor runs through most of those lines. Priced on its own, a roofing crew charges roughly $200 to $300 per square before materials, so about $5,000 to $7,500 of labor on a 25-square roof.
Underlayment is where low bids most often cut: swapping synthetic underlayment for old-style felt saves the contractor money on day one and shows up as a problem years later. And the overhead line pays for liability insurance and workers’ compensation. Crews hired as subcontractors with little or no workers’ comp make a bid cheaper and move the risk onto you, because an uninsured installer hurt on your roof can become your liability.
What a “basic roof” price leaves out
The figures above describe a basic job. This is what such a price usually includes and what it does not, and it is the list to hold every quote against.
Usually included: tear-off and disposal of one layer, architectural shingles, synthetic underlayment over the whole deck, drip edge at all eaves and rakes, new pipe boots at every plumbing vent, box vents, the permit, labor and cleanup.
Usually extra: ice and water shield, an upgrade to ridge vent, a second layer of tear-off, decking or sheathing replacement, chimney, wall and skylight flashing, impact-resistant shingles, and taking down a satellite dish or solar panels.
Two quotes $3,000 apart can both be fair when one includes ice and water shield, ridge vent and new wall flashing and the other leaves them out.
How to read a roofing quote line by line
Quotes arrive in four shapes:
- An Xactimate estimate, built in the same software insurance adjusters use. Every item has a quantity, a unit and a price. Dense, but complete.
- A line-item estimate from other software, with the same detail laid out differently.
- A lump-sum estimate: the full scope of work listed with quantities, then one price at the bottom.
- “Replace roof and all accessories,” one number. Often handwritten. Ask for the scope in writing before you compare it with anything.
Then go down the lines. These are the ones that matter, and the question to ask about each.
Field shingles, in squares. The main slopes and the biggest number on the page. If the squares differ between quotes, ask each roofer how they measured and what waste factor they used.
Ridge and hip caps, in linear feet. The shingles that cover the peaks.
Starter shingles, in linear feet. A row under the first course that gives the field shingles something to seal to. You cannot see it on a finished roof, which is why it sometimes goes missing from a quote. Ask whether it is used, and whether at the eaves only or the gable ends too.
Underlayment, in squares. Felt or synthetic? It may show fewer squares than the shingles, which is normal: its waste factor is lower.
Ice and water shield, in square feet. A self-sticking membrane at eaves, valleys and around penetrations. Where it is required, and how much, depends on local code; in cold climates the International Residential Code calls for an ice barrier at the eaves wherever ice damming has a history.
Drip edge, in linear feet. Metal along every roof edge. It should be new and run along both the eaves and the gable ends. Do not let a roofer reuse drip edge or pipe boots: the warranty and the seal both depend on new parts, and the rubber gasket on an old pipe boot cracks in the sun. Both are small line items next to a leak.
Valley flashing, in linear feet. Only if the roof has valleys. Metal or a membrane under the shingles; ask which.
Wall and step flashing. Where the roof meets a wall or a dormer. Good practice is to replace it, and it is commonly done wrong. Ask how each roofer handles it.
Ventilation. Counted as a number of box or turbine vents, or in linear feet of ridge vent. If the counts differ, either someone counted wrong, or one roofer has spotted that the attic is under-ventilated and is fixing it.
Poor ventilation is one of the most common installation errors in residential roofing. It cooks the shingles from below, rots the sheathing, and feeds ice dams. It can also void the shingle warranty, since manufacturers make proper attic ventilation a condition of coverage. Ridge vent is not automatically better than box vents: it only works over an attic with enough intake at the soffits, which takes an attic inspection to confirm.
High-roof and steep-roof charges, in squares. Sometimes listed, often folded into labor.
Why two identical houses get quotes thousands apart
Scope drives the price far more than the size of the house. Picture two identical 2,000 square foot homes. One gets the basic roof. On the other, part of the roof is a 9/12 pitch, there is a second layer of old shingles to remove, the box vents become ridge vent, and the homeowner picks impact-resistant shingles with ice and water shield. Same house, a quote thousands of dollars higher, and both are honest.
The variables that move a quote:
- Pitch. Up to about 7/12, most roofs carry no surcharge. Steeper sections cost more per square because the crew needs harnesses and moves slower, and usually only the steep sections are charged, so a 6/12 house with a 9/12 garage pays it on the garage alone.
- Layers. Each extra layer of old shingles is more labor and more dumpster. Removal and disposal of the old roof runs $1,500 to $4,500 nationally in HomeAdvisor’s data, and a second or third layer pushes it to the top of that range.
- Complexity. Height, steepness and a roof broken into many planes slow the crew and waste material.
- Access. Can the supply truck put the bundles straight onto the roof, and can the crew’s trailer park close enough to take the tear-off straight from the roof? If not, everything is carried by hand both ways.
- Shingle grade. Impact-resistant (Class 4) and designer shingles cost more per square foot than standard architectural ones, and a heavy designer shingle can add a large premium over a basic roof.
The decking surprise, and how to price it in advance
The decking is the plywood or OSB the whole roof is nailed to, and nobody sees it until the shingles come off. It is the most expensive surprise in a replacement.
Most of the time the decking is fine, and a few soft sheets get swapped. Two situations change that:
- Long-term leaks or poor ventilation. Sheets soak up water and go soft, or delaminate from attic heat. On a roof that has leaked for years, the count can climb well past a few sheets.
- Old plank sheathing. Houses built before about 1960 often have spaced boards instead of continuous panels, which do not meet current code for shingles. Re-sheathing a whole roof that way is a major line item, often thousands of dollars, and it moves with lumber prices.
Two things protect you. Ask whether the roofer will inspect the attic before quoting: from inside, they can see sagging, stains and delamination before tear-off day. And get the per-sheet price written into the contract, so the conversation on the driveway is about how many sheets, not how much each one costs.
Repair or replace?
Not every leak needs a new roof. Repair makes sense when the damage is in one area, the roof is relatively young, the shingles are still flexible and sound, and the problem traces to a single failure: a cracked pipe boot, one bad piece of flashing, limited storm damage.
Two warnings. A proper repair costs more per square foot than a new roof, because the crew still has to drive out, find matching shingles, open the area and work out why it failed. And a repair priced far below the others is often a bead of sealant over the problem, which buys a few months at best.
Timing matters too. Fix problems while the roof can still be repaired: a roof left leaking one season too long often has no honest answer left but a full replacement.
Asphalt, metal, tile: what each material costs
Asphalt covers most US houses, and the grade inside asphalt matters more than most people expect.
| Material | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| 3-tab asphalt | $3.00 | $7.00 |
| Architectural asphalt | $4.00 | $6.00 |
| Wood shake | $6.00 | $13.00 |
| Metal | $7.00 | $13.00 |
| Clay or concrete tile | $10.00 | $20.00 |
| Slate or stone | $15.00 | $30.00 |
HomeAdvisor national cost data, June 2026. Multiply by 100 for the per-square price.
Asphalt shingle roof cost. Standard architectural shingles such as GAF’s Timberline line carry a lifetime limited warranty, and a correctly installed one should last 25 to 30 years. Roofs that fail early usually fail from the installation, not the shingle.
Class 4 shingles resist hail far better, and in hail country they can pay part of their way back. Several insurers have offered premium discounts for them, but those offers change, so ask your agent directly before you choose. In some hail-belt cities, Class 4 is the code minimum, not an upgrade. Ask your building department, and make sure every bid prices it if it applies.
Metal roof estimates. At $7 to $13 per square foot, a 2,500 square foot roof comes to about $17,500 to $32,500. Exposed-fastener panels sit at the low end, standing seam toward the top. Metal makes the most sense if you plan to stay long enough to collect on its longer life.
Insurance: what it pays, and what it does not
Insurance covers sudden damage: hail, wind, a falling tree. It does not pay for a roof that wore out.
Before you file, read two parts of your policy.
- The wind and hail deductible. In many states it is a percentage of the home’s insured value rather than a flat amount. Percentage deductibles typically run 1 to 5 percent, so a home insured for $400,000 with a 2 percent deductible pays the first $8,000.
- How the roof is settled. More insurers now pay roof claims at actual cash value: the depreciated value of an older roof, not the price of a new one. An Aon analysis of seven regional insurers found these endorsements cut the average hail claim payout by about 30 percent.
When the adjuster’s estimate arrives, it is usually an Xactimate printout like the one described above. Share it with a roofer you trust, who can spot missing line items, rather than collecting four contractor bids and trying to reconcile them yourself. If the insurer’s scope still looks incomplete on a large claim, a public adjuster or an independent appraiser can be worth the fee.
How much does where you live matter?
A lot, and not only through labor rates. Material prices moved in opposite directions across states in 2025: Verisk measured roofing materials up 10.37 percent in Nevada and down 15.80 percent in New Hampshire, against 1.48 percent nationally.
Local code adds line items too. Cold-climate towns require ice and water shield at the eaves. Hail-belt towns may require Class 4 shingles. Coastal hurricane zones add their own fastening rules. A quote that is cheap because it skips a local requirement will fail the inspection.
Roof age varies by region as well. Verisk found 17 percent of Midwest roofs and 18 percent of Northeast roofs are 31 years or older, against 4 percent in the South, where storms replace roofs faster.
Should you wait for prices to drop?
The national data shows no sign of a drop: Verisk measured roofing materials up 1.48 percent in 2025 and labor up 0.79 percent, after several years of steep material inflation.
If your roof is sound, there is no reason to rush. If it leaks, or the shingles are brittle and bald, waiting saves nothing. Each season of water getting in adds rotten decking to the eventual bill, and that line item grows faster than any price index.
Before you sign
Ask every roofer the same questions, and get the answers in writing.
- Which underlayment, by product name: synthetic or felt?
- Are all pipe boots replaced, or only the damaged ones?
- Is ice and water shield included, and where: eaves, valleys, around penetrations?
- What ventilation is going in, and did you look in the attic?
- What is the price per sheet of decking, and per extra layer of tear-off?
- Which warranty: the manufacturer’s on materials only, or a separate one on workmanship?
- Do both your company and the installing crew carry workers’ compensation?
- Who pulls the permit?
On the permit: if a roofer offers to skip the permit to save money, decline. An unpermitted roof can cause trouble when you sell and with your insurer, and it says something about how the rest of the job will go.
Finally, be wary of the storm-chaser pattern: an unsolicited knock after a hail storm, an offer to “handle the insurance,” and pressure to sign that afternoon. A local contractor who will still be there in year three does not need your signature today.