Roofing is one of those trades where the pricing looks simple until your first real cost overrun. A customer sees "replace the shingles" and imagines a straightforward number. You see a rotted deck, failing step flashing, mismatched drip edge, and a disposal fee that eats your margin before you pull a nail.

Getting roofing prices right comes down to three things: what a "square" actually costs to install, how your labor and overhead load into that price, and which add-ons have to be priced separately — or you'll eat them. This guide builds that framework from scratch.

The roofing unit you need to know

Everything in roofing is priced per square — 100 square feet of roof surface, not floor space. A 2,000-square-foot ranch with a simple gable roof might have 22–24 squares once you account for overhang and pitch. A complex hip roof on the same house could hit 28–32 squares. Always measure the actual roof plane, not the footprint.

When you quote "per square installed," that number needs to include materials, labor, and overhead. A lot of roofers go wrong by quoting the distributor price and thinking that's their cost floor. It's not even close.

Installed cost benchmarks by roofing type

These are 2026 installed ranges — materials plus labor, tear-off not included. All prices are per square (100 sq ft of roof surface).

Roofing type Materials/sq Installed/sq
3-tab asphalt $80–$120 $350–$550
Architectural shingles $120–$200 $450–$700
Metal (exposed fastener) $200–$350 $550–$850
Metal (standing seam) $400–$700 $900–$1,500
Concrete tile $300–$500 $700–$1,200
Clay tile $500–$1,000 $1,100–$2,000
TPO (flat/low-slope) $150–$250 $450–$750
EPDM (flat/low-slope) $100–$180 $400–$650

These ranges are wide for a reason — labor rates vary 40–60% between a rural market and a coastal metro. And architectural shingles run the range themselves: a 30-year GAF Timberline is not the same product as a 50-year Class 4 impact-resistant shingle. Know what you're installing before you quote.

Your real labor cost per square

The sticker on your shingles doesn't lie. Your labor cost does, if you're calculating it at wages.

A roofing crew typically earns $28–$45/hour in wages depending on region and experience. But your actual cost per hour — once you add employer payroll taxes (FICA, FUTA, SUTA), workers' comp (which runs 15–30% of wages in roofing because it's a high-risk classification), health insurance, and tool costs — is probably 35–50% higher. That $32/hour roofer costs you $44–$50 fully burdened.

If you want to work through this for your own crew, our post on labor burden rates for contractors covers the full formula with a step-by-step breakdown.

A three-person crew might install 8–12 squares of architectural shingles per day on a clean residential job. On a steep pitch (7:12 or steeper), that drops to 5–8 squares. Budget accordingly, and don't let your per-square labor number come from a competitor's price — build it from your own crew's actual production rate.

Tear-off, decking, and the add-ons that kill your margin

Tear-off is almost always quoted separately because it's separate work. Industry rates run $50–$150/square depending on the number of existing layers, pitch, and site access. Two layers costs more to strip than one. A tile or slate roof takes considerably longer than either.

Decking repair is pure variable cost. You won't know how much is rotten until you pull shingles. Give clients a unit price upfront — something like "$65 per sheet of OSB, plus labor" — so there's no surprise invoice when you find bad sections. Put that rate in the written quote. It's much easier to bill for decking repair against a pre-agreed number than to explain a change order on a job that's already half-open.

Other items that belong as separate line items, not buried in the per-square price:

  • Drip edge replacement: $2–$5 per linear foot installed
  • Step flashing and counter flashing at chimneys and walls: $15–$40 per linear foot
  • Pipe jack boots: $25–$75 each installed
  • Ice and water shield in valleys and low-slope sections: $1.50–$3.50/sq ft
  • Disposal and haul-away: $200–$600 per dumpster, or $20–$50/square bundled

Miss any of these on a 25-square job and you're looking at $500–$2,000 that just evaporated from your margin. It doesn't take many jobs like that to turn a profitable season into a flat one.

Material markup on roofing supplies

Roofing materials — shingles, underlayment, ice barrier, nails, flashing — should carry a markup. You're sourcing, transporting, and managing waste on those materials. You're also on the hook if a product is defective or gets damaged on site. Most residential roofers mark materials up 20–35% over their distributor cost. On a $4,000 material order, that's $800–$1,400 in gross margin before you account for a single hour of labor.

Don't confuse markup with margin — a 25% markup on $4,000 adds $1,000, but the margin on your total price is only 20%. Our post on material markup for contractors has the formula and trade-by-trade benchmarks if you want to see how roofing compares to other trades.

Flat rate vs. time-and-materials on roofing work

Most reroofing jobs should be flat rate. You've measured the roof, you know the product, you know your crew's production rate — price it as a fixed number and own the risk. Clients trust flat-rate quotes more, and if you're efficient, flat rate pays better than T&M on the same job.

T&M makes sense in a few specific situations: custom work with fabricated metal panels where hours are genuinely unpredictable, repairs where scope is unknown until you open the roof, or commercial projects where the owner contractually requires it. Outside those situations, flat rate is almost always the right call. Our post on flat rate vs. time and materials covers how to build a price book if you're making the transition.

Common questions about roofing pricing

How is a roofing square different from square footage?

A square in roofing equals 100 square feet of roof surface area. If your measured roof planes total 2,200 square feet, that's 22 squares. All roofing materials — shingles, underlayment, rolls of ice barrier — are sold and priced per square, so you need the square count before you can quote anything accurately.

How much should a roofer charge per square for architectural shingles?

Installed pricing (materials plus labor, tear-off not included) for architectural asphalt shingles runs $450–$700/square in most U.S. markets in 2026. The low end applies to simple roofs in lower-cost labor markets; the high end reflects steeper pitches, premium shingle lines, and metro areas where labor costs more.

Should tear-off be included in the per-square price?

It can go either way, but most roofers quote it separately so the client sees exactly what they're paying for. Bundled tear-off plus install for a single-layer strip-off of architectural shingles typically runs $500–$800/square in a mid-market area. Separate line items also make scope changes cleaner to handle.

What overhead rate do roofing contractors typically run?

Roofing overhead tends to run 28–40% of revenue. That covers general liability and workers' comp insurance (both expensive in roofing), vehicles and equipment, office and admin, and marketing. Most roofers who think they're running 20% overhead are actually closer to 35% once everything is counted. Our post on calculating contractor overhead walks through how to get an accurate number for your business.

How do I price steep-pitch roofing?

Apply a pitch factor multiplier to your labor cost. A 4:12 pitch is the standard baseline. From there: 7:12 adds 15–25% to labor; 9:12 adds 35–50%; 12:12 and above often doubles labor cost, and some contractors add a separate safety and equipment surcharge on top. Always walk the roof or use satellite measurement to confirm pitch before quoting.

What profit margin should a roofing contractor target?

Net profit margin for residential roofing typically runs 8–15% of revenue after all costs and overhead. Below 8% is thin and leaves no cushion for a bad weather season, a warranty callback, or a material cost spike.

The bottom line

Roofing pricing has more moving parts than most clients expect — and more than a lot of newer roofers plan for. The per-square number you quote has to carry materials, fully burdened labor, overhead, and profit. Tear-off, decking repair, flashing, and disposal are separate line items, not surprises you absorb after the fact.

The roofers who stay profitable price everything they actually do. They put decking unit prices in writing before the job starts. They separate disposal. They mark up their materials. And they don't base their number on a competitor's price they overheard at the supply house.

If you want to turn a client message into a structured, itemized roofing quote without rebuilding it from scratch each time, try PRISM. Paste the job description, and PRISM builds a formatted quote from your own pricing — add-ons, markup, and all.