What Is the Average Price to Replace a Roof in 2025
5 Things You Need to Know About the Average Price to Replace a Roof
In this post, our founder at Contractors Booklist reviews different roof sizes and prices across the U.S. With years of experience in the roofing industry, we share insights to help educate homeowners and roofing contractors on everything related to roofing. This post is perfect for you if you're a homeowner considering a roof replacement. You'll learn about the average price to replace a roof and what to expect during the process.
How Is the Cost of Roofing Changing and When Will Roofing Prices Go Down?
Roofs are more like car sales. You will never see roofing prices go down. In the last 30 years, roofing only has been increasing. While it's a commodity business, it's not like buying gas, where prices might fluctuate based on economy or materials. Gas or oil might go up or down.
Roofing prices usually stay up for two reasons.
Number one is materials never go down. Asphalt shingle manufacturers never lower their prices. And last year alone, we've seen about seven price increases, costing roofers about 30% more than the previous year. In the last twelve years, prices for asphalt shingles almost doubled. And it's the most popular material in the US. An estimated 80% of asphalt shingle roofs in the United States. As for the second reason that roofing prices will not go down, inflation and labor costs also never go down. Simply put, roofers would like to get paid more, not less.
The Difference Between Lower Bidders and Higher Bidders
You should be more worried and careful with lower bidders than with higher ones. You're more likely to get a bad deal when going with the cheapest bid. And if you look at the complaints reports, most problems happen with the cheapest bids and contractors who don't charge enough.
Average Cost for a New Roof in the U.S. in 2025
Good to Know: Roofing Squares
This one is actually in New Jersey, 2000 square feet, or 20 “roofing squares.” The roofing square is 10ft by 10ft or 100 sqft = 1 roofing square. 2000 sqft is 20 roofing squares. You'll hear it often from roofers, and we'll often refer to it here.
A typical roof size is anywhere between 2000 to 2500 sqft. Everything is bigger in Texas. In Texas, the average roof will be more on a 3000 sqft level. In downtown metropolitan areas, Minneapolis, Chicago, and New Jersey, you will see a lot of smaller houses, about 1500 sqft. But the typical size is about 2000 to 2500 squares.
Average Price to Replace a Roof
And so, if your roof looks like this, the average price in the United States is anywhere from $8000 to $10,000. This is 2025. Next year and years later, it will cost more. If you get a cheaper bid than the lowest end of the average price range ($8000), we recommend you be on alert. Keep in mind that the minimum cost of a roofing square is $400 to $500. If you pay less than the expected minimum, someone is probably cutting corners or not doing what they are supposed to be doing.
That's why we thoroughly vet contractors in our network, so you'll get a fair price and a great deal in your area.
5 Factors That Affect Roofing Cost
We'll explain what it costs to replace a roof in different parts of the country, what affects the price, how you can save money, and how to converse with your contractor.
Understanding Roofing Cost
- Roofing is a complicated business and very competitive.
- Labor has to be compensated.
- Workers’ compensation has to be purchased.
- Overhead has to be met.
- Materials have to be paid.
It will cost more to get a roof replaced in LA or New York City. Everything is more expensive in LA. You have different labor rules, have to buy work comp, and cannot use subcontractors. Both LA and New York City pose expensive roofing markets. Now, Texas Midwest will be a little bit less. Alabama and Atlanta will be a little bit less. But overall, you're getting the picture.
1. How A Steep Roof Can Cost You More
If your roof looks like a dome like this, you will definitely pay more. Why? It will take way more time to go through all the different areas. You will pay more if your roof is steep and you cannot walk on it. How much more? Well, sometimes double. Why? Because roofers charge per day, and how many days will it take? If you have a 4/12 roof pitch and it's walkable. Roofers must tie themselves with the ropes for safety, but they can still walk. On some roofs, you can't do that. If it's 12/12, you're going to move much slower.
And most jobs are walkable. 20-30 squares will take you one day, while roofs like in the picture above might take a week. So, if you spend four more days on a project, think about all the labor that goes into it and the waste for all the shingles. Something like this will have a 20-30% waste factor. So you will pay double or triple the price for a roof like in the picture above.
In contrast, a typical gable roof like we've seen in the first picture will be 5% waste.
2. How The Height Of A Building Affects Its Roofing Costs
Another factor that dramatically increases the roof replacement price is how tall the building is. There's a massive difference between one, two, and four stories.
This house right here is three stories high. Safety measures are on another level. Plus, you will spend way more time preparing everything on the ground to get materials and crew to clean and work overall. Everything on the top of the roof is going to take way longer. So, this house in the picture above is an excellent example of an expensive roof.
We asked our fellow roofer, Justin Dean, about the cost of this roofing replacement. He is in Cincinnati, Ohio. This job was $37,000, and it's 7,200 sqft. Very complex, very tall building. Roofs usually don't get much more complicated than this.
For that reason, a homeowner will pay 20-30% to 200% more than if the house has one level and a 4/12 roof pitch. Now, if your house looks like this, you should expect to pay about $40,000. If this house were in New York or California, the roof replacement would probably cost from $50,000 to $70,000.
Here’s another example of a big roof, 30 squares. This one comes from DT Roofing in Texas. This is your typical Texas roof. It's not as complex, not as many details. It's a one-story, 30-square roof. And this one, $7,000. It's way cheaper, but the price per square is similar to the previous one in Ohio.
Another cool roof with a pretty cool design. This roof is 58 squares, so you can now imagine how much this is going to be. I would probably estimate about $500 - $600 a square.
3. Waste Management
Another reason the roofing cost may go up is waste management. This cedar roof is 146 squares—very complex. Make sure your roofer understands how much it takes to remove cedar shakes on a job like this.
After analyzing the picture, we have estimated that you will require approximately six to eight dumpsters. It is possible for a roofer with little experience working with cedar roofs to misjudge the number of dumpsters needed. Currently, the average cost of a dumpster is between $4,000 to $5,000. Therefore, it is essential to avoid any miscalculations as it could result in a costly mistake for the roofing contractor. In some cases, it could even lead to a loss of profit, and the contractor may request additional funds from you.
What we see with the complaints from homeowners, frequently when disputes happen, it is because of things like this. When a contractor makes a math error, he does not calculate all the expenses. Avoid disputes with the contractor by ensuring they have good waste management practices.
4. How Many Layers Your Roof Has
Another problem with cedar and asphalt roofs is how many layers your roof has. So if your roofing sales rep comes out and he's not thorough, he's not pulling up your shingles to see how many layers your roof has, he will lose money on the job. Because if you have two or three layers, it will double or triple the waste factor.
5. How Complex the Roof Is Influences the Cost of a New Roof
Brian Espinosa sent us this picture. You can see the complexity of the job here. You see scaffolding. You see planks. Jobs like this will take ten times longer than a typical walkable roof not only because of how steep it is but also because of how complex and tall it is. This is a tricky one. So, if your house looks like this, please don't think about how many square feet the roof is. Think about complexity and how labor-intensive the project is going to be.
Example of an Easy Roofing Job
Jarrett, one of our preferred contractors in Contractors Booklist, sent us this picture. You can see when a job is simple. When everything is open, you can offload it and move faster. Beautifully done job. Here's the final project.
How Contractors Booklist Helps You Save Time And Money
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Contractors in our network save on marketing costs and focus on service quality. Roofing is a competitive business, and our goal is to make the process simpler and more affordable for homeowners.
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We’re here to help you find a great contractor. Your roof is essential—no one should have to endure headaches or end up with the wrong hire. Start your roofing project with Contractors Booklist today.