What should I charge for roofing work?

Roofing is priced per square — 100 square feet — but the price has to carry a crew, tear-off and dump fees, fall-protection gear, high insurance, and a season cut short by weather. Build each bid from your crew labor and materials plus a markup that covers that overhead, and the per-square price becomes clear.

Price a job the way contractors actually do it: add up what the job costs you, then add a markup for your overhead and profit. Fill in your numbers — your bid updates as you type.

What this job costs you

Materials & supplies ($) — your cost for everything you'll buy for this job

Other direct costs ($) — fuel, equipment rental, disposal fees, permits

Your labor

Not sure what to charge for your time? Employed roofers earn a median of about $26.65/hr (BLS OEWS, May 2025). A self-employed labor rate is typically higher — roughly $40–$55/hr (about 1.5–2×) — because it also has to cover self-employment tax, the benefits an employer would otherwise pay, and the hours that cannot be billed.

Hours this job will take

Your hourly labor rate ($) — what your time is worth per hour; e.g. $40–$55

Hired help ($) — paid to a helper or subcontractor; leave blank if solo

Your markup — overhead & profit

This is where your business actually makes money. Industry standard is roughly 20–30% overall for contractors; solo operators often need the higher end to cover insurance, tools, truck, admin time, and slow weeks. Adjust to fit your business.

Markup on your costs (%)

Materials & supplies	$0
Your labor (0 hrs × $0)	$0
Hired help	$0
Other direct costs	$0
Your costs (subtotal)	$0
Markup (30% — overhead & profit)	$0
Bid price	$0

Pricing method and standard percentages from contractor-industry sources (Angi, Buildern, NAHB): overall contractor markup 20–30%, materials markup 7.5–35%, labor markup 25–50%, recommended profit margin 15–25%. A markup is a percentage of your costs; the resulting margin (share of the bid that's profit) is lower — both are shown above. These are general benchmarks, not a guarantee for your market.

What your markup has to cover

The markup in your bid covers the costs no single job shows. For roofing work, your overhead typically includes crew labor, the truck and trailer, tear-off and dumpster fees, fall-protection and safety gear, high liability and workers’ comp insurance, nail guns and compressors, and ladder and jack equipment. None of that appears on one job, but all of it is paid out of the markup added to every job. Published contractor guidance (Angi, NAHB) puts a typical overall markup at 20–30%.

Be realistic about your hours

Roofing is weather- and season-bound — count realistic working weeks, not 52. Tear-off, loading, cleanup, and magnet sweeps are part of every job but easy to underestimate. Insurance and dump fees are large fixed costs, so price per square with them fully loaded in.

Roofer pricing FAQs

How do roofers price a job?

By the roofing "square" (100 sq ft), then adjusted for pitch, layers to tear off, and access. Estimate the squares and your crew hours, apply your hourly labor rate, and add materials, dump fees, and a contingency for rotted decking you cannot see from the ground.

Why is roofing insurance so expensive, and who pays for it?

Roofing is high-risk work, so liability and workers’ comp premiums are among the highest in the trades — and the customer pays for it, through your price. Build the full annual premium into your overhead so every job carries its share.

Should I include tear-off and disposal in my price?

Always — tear-off labor and dump fees are a major cost and grow with each existing layer. Price them as explicit line items so a two-layer tear-off is not quietly done at a one-layer price.