Roof Replacement Cost 2026: $8,500–$15,000 by House Size

A full architectural shingle replacement on a straightforward US single-family roof — about 15 to 25 squares, one layer torn off, new underlayment, ordinary flashing, and a crew that can stage from the driveway — often clusters around $8,500–$15,000 installed. The wider national spread, about $5,500–$22,000, covers a smaller, simple roof at the low end and a larger, steeper, or cut-up roof, a second layer, or a high-cost labor market at the high end. Metal and tile are different products and usually leave that spread. These are typical planning ranges, not a survey and not a quote.

A square is 100 square feet of roof, not of living area. A rambling one-story house can have more roof than a compact two-story with the same floor plan. Twenty squares is not half the price of forty, because the dumpster, the permit, the trip, and the flashing at the chimney do not shrink in half. Price the roof you can measure.

The size table is architectural asphalt with one layer torn off. The low end of each squares range is a compact two-story with a simple gable and a modest overhang. The high end is a one-story house of the same floor area. The installed column is the cluster for a straightforward job of that size. Pairing the highest square count with the top of the per-square rate can reach the wider spread, and on the largest one-story roofs it can pass $22,000. The two tables are two ways to read one roof. Multiplying them on top of each other double-counts the job.

Floor area	Typical roofing squares	Typical installed cost
1,200 sq ft	12–22	$5,500–$12,000
1,500 sq ft	14–26	$6,500–$14,000
2,000 sq ft	15–32	$8,500–$18,000
2,500 sq ft	18–38	$10,000–$20,000
3,000 sq ft	22–42	$12,000–$22,000

A 2,000 sq ft two-story house is the low half of that squares row, often about 15–22 squares, which is the roof this page’s $8,500–$15,000 band describes. A 2,000 sq ft one-story house is the high half, often about 22–32 squares, and that roof often sits at the top of the typical band or leaves it for the wider spread. Pitch, overhangs, dormers, and a complicated hip add squares on either house. A 1,200 sq ft house can land near the $5,500 floor when the roof is small and simple. A 3,000 sq ft one-story roof is how a job reaches the $22,000 top, and a steep or cut-up roof of that size can clear it.

The per-square table is the installed material on a straightforward pitch with ordinary access, after you know the square count. Multiplying squares by the rate is a cross-check. A second layer, a steep pitch, and rotten decking are not inside the rate.

Material	Typical installed cost per square
Asphalt, three-tab	$350–$550
Architectural asphalt	$450–$700
Metal	$900–$1,600
Tile	$1,200–$2,400

Architectural asphalt in the mid hundreds of dollars per square is how a 15- to 25-square roof lands in the typical band. Twenty squares at the middle of $450–$700 is about $9,000–$14,000. The cheapest rate on the smallest roof is the floor of the wider spread, not the typical cluster. Three-tab sits under the typical band. Designer shingles sit at the top of the asphalt spread. Metal at $900–$1,600 a square and tile at $1,200–$2,400 a square usually leave the $5,500–$22,000 asphalt spread once the roof is a full house. The metal roof guide is that metal job: a 2,000 sq ft house often clusters around $13,000–$30,000. Tile can also need a deck and a structure that can carry the weight. Ask for that as its own line.

What the range includes

The typical band assumes architectural asphalt shingles on a house of about 15 to 25 squares, tear-off and haul-away of a single layer, new underlayment, drip edge, pipe boots, a ridge vent or an equivalent intake-and-exhaust plan, and ordinary flashing at walls and penetrations. Where the city requires a permit, an ordinary permit fee usually sits inside the bid. Ask anyway. Ice-and-water shield along the eaves, in climates where that is the normal practice, usually sits inside a normal bid rather than as a surprise line.

A compact, walkable gable in a lower-cost area sits toward the lower half. A two-story hip with several valleys, or a roof that already has a second layer, sits at the top of the band and leaves it when the deck is soft across a slope.

The floor of the national spread, near $5,500, is a small, simple asphalt roof, one layer, easy access, in a lower-cost market. The 1,200 sq ft row is that kind of roof when the squares stay low. The top, toward $22,000, is where a larger or steeper roof, a second layer of tear-off, a scatter of decking replacement, and a high labor market usually land together. New sheathing on a whole slope, a chimney rebuild, metal, or tile can clear that top.

None of the bands include new sheathing across the whole roof, structural repairs, a skylight replacement, a chimney rebuild, new gutters as their own project, or interior drywall from a leak you already have. Those show up after tear-off more often than homeowners expect. A useful bid states a per-sheet price for decking so the allowance is not a blank check. New windows are a different project. If the same season includes them, price the openings on the window replacement guide. Step flashing where a roof meets a wall is part of the roof. The window unit is not. A stain over a garage door can start on the roof; the door itself is the garage door guide.

Tear-off or an overlay

The $8,500–$15,000 band is a tear-off. The crew strips one layer, hauls it away, and sees the deck before the new underlayment goes down. That haul-away is a real line: the dumpster, the weight, and the labor.

An overlay puts a new layer over one existing layer of shingles, where that layer is still sound and local rules still allow a second layer. On a straightforward roof it often costs about $1,000–$3,000 less than tearing off that same roof, because the disposal is the main thing you skip. You also skip the chance to see soft decking. Flashing at chimneys and walls still has to be rebuilt, or the new layer leaks where the old one leaked. Weight goes up. Many cities allow two layers and refuse a third. A roof that already has two layers is a tear-off, and that second layer is more weight, more dump fees, and a reason the bid leaves the typical band.

Choose the overlay only when someone has confirmed a single sound layer, a solid deck from the attic, and a code that still permits the second layer. Choose the tear-off when granules are in the gutters, the shingles are brittle, or the deck is an unknown. The per-square rates above assume the tear-off. An overlay is not those rates with the haul-away quietly removed unless the bid says so.

Decking, per sheet

A 4×8 sheet of roof sheathing, plywood or OSB, replaced once the shingles are off, is often about $75–$160 installed. That is material and labor for the sheet, with the roof already open. A few sheets are an allowance inside a normal bid. Ten sheets, at that range, are about $750–$1,600, which can sit inside the typical band or push a small roof out of it. A whole slope of rotten deck is a different number and can leave the $22,000 top when the rest of the roof is already large.

The per-sheet price belongs on the proposal before tear-off. Fire-treated plywood, or a high-labor market, can leave $75–$160. A bid that says “decking as needed” with no price is a blank check. New sheathing across the whole roof is outside every band on this page. Ask which driver you are paying for if the number jumps after the old shingles come off.

Does insurance pay for a roof

A homeowner policy may pay for a roof when a covered event damages it: wind, hail, a fallen tree. Age, worn shingles, and a leak from failed flashing are usually maintenance, and the ranges on this page are the price of that maintenance. The claim check follows the policy, not this guide. Replacement-cost coverage and actual-cash-value coverage are different math. Either one is minus the deductible. A wind or hail deductible that is a percentage of the dwelling limit can be larger than a flat deductible. An older roof paid at actual cash value can leave most of a $8,500–$15,000 replacement with you.

Matching-shingle limits and cosmetic-damage exclusions can pay for the damaged slope and stop there. The carrier’s scope, in writing, is the document to read before you sign a roofing contract that assumes the insurer will fund the whole bid. These planning ranges are not an insurance estimate, and a contractor’s estimate is not the insurer’s approval. If the same storm also broke windows, price those openings on the window guide so the roof claim is not asked to include new sashes.

What moves the price

Driver	How it changes the bid
Size	Roofers price squares. A 2,000 sq ft two-story house is often 15 to 22 squares. The same floor area on one story is often 22 to 32. The dumpster and the permit do not fall in a straight line with the squares.
Material	Three-tab is often $350–$550 a square. Architectural asphalt is often $450–$700. Metal and tile leave the asphalt band. Name the product line so a builder-grade shingle is not hiding in a mid-range number.
Pitch and height	A walkable slope is the planning roof. Steeper pitches and a second or third story slow the crew and add fall protection.
Layers	One layer is the typical tear-off. An overlay, where it is still allowed, is often $1,000–$3,000 less. A second layer already on the roof is more weight and more dump fees.
Decking	Soft plywood is billed once it is visible, often $75–$160 a sheet. A few sheets are an allowance. A whole slope is a different number.
Penetrations	Chimneys, skylights, dead valleys, and dormers add flashing time. A simple gable is a different day from a roof that changes direction every few feet.
Region and access	Labor and disposal vary widely. A high-cost metro can clear the top of the national spread on an otherwise simple roof. A backyard the truck cannot reach is labor, too.

If the attic is already hot enough to curl shingles, say so. Intake at the eaves and exhaust at the ridge are the ordinary plan. A powered fan is not a substitute for a path the air can actually follow. Depth of insulation on the attic floor is a separate bid; price it on the attic insulation guide. Spray foam on the underside of the roof deck is a different bid; price it on the spray foam insulation guide. Panels on that roof are a different bid; price them on the solar panel guide.

DIY or hire

Hire for a replacement. A roof is a fall hazard, the disposal is a real line item, and many shingle warranties expect a credentialed installer. Underlayment, flashing, and ventilation are the parts a weekend crew is most likely to rush, and they are the parts that decide whether the new shingles last.

DIY fits small, specific repairs: replacing a handful of damaged shingles, reseating a pipe boot, or clearing debris from a valley if you can do it from a stable position and you are willing to get off the roof when the pitch or the height is wrong. If you are pricing a harness, a dumpster, and a crew’s worth of shingles, you are pricing a contractor’s job without the crew.

Do not walk a roof to save a service call if you are not equipped for the height. A ceiling stain can be diagnosed from the attic, with a flashlight, before anyone climbs. Soft decking shows up as a give underfoot and as daylight or staining on the underside of the sheathing.

Repair or replace

Repair when the leak is local, the shingles are not brittle across the field, the roof is well under a typical asphalt life people plan around — often discussed as roughly 20 to 30 years, which is not a warranty — and the deck feels solid from the attic. Flashing and boots fail before the field does. Replacing a boot, resealing a short run of step flashing, or swapping a few wind-damaged shingles is a repair. Price that localized job on the roof repair guide.

Replace when granules are filling the gutters, shingles are curled, cracked, or missing on more than one slope, you already have two layers, the deck is sagging or soft, or a storm damaged a large area. If a repair quote is a large fraction of a replacement quote, price both in writing. A patch on a roof near the end of its life buys a season.

Get someone on the roof, or at least in the attic, before you decide. Water can travel along a rafter and show up far from the hole. If the stain is at a chimney or a wall, look at flashing before you look at the field of shingles. If the same wall has failed windows, price those on the window guide so the roof bid stays a roof bid.

How to use this number

Ask two or three roofers for written bids that state the manufacturer and the shingle line, the number of squares, the number of layers to be removed, whether the job is a tear-off or an overlay, the underlayment, the ventilation plan, the flashing scope, who pulls the permit, and the per-sheet price for decking. Compare a straightforward architectural tear-off of about 15 to 25 squares with $8,500–$15,000. Compare the squares on your house with the size table, and compare the product with $350–$550 for three-tab, $450–$700 for architectural, $900–$1,600 for the common metal cluster, and $1,200–$2,400 for tile. A metal bid belongs on the metal roof guide. Make decking an allowance at $75–$160 a sheet.

A very low bid on a full replacement often omits tear-off, names a shingle line you did not ask about, or assumes the deck is perfect. A high bid should point at squares, pitch, a second layer, access, or the labor market. Two or three local bids on the same scope are the number that matters. How this site sets the band is explained on the methodology page.