Exterior
Roof replacement
Roofing squares, architectural asphalt or standing-seam metal.
Roofers sell by the square. One square is 100 square feet of roof surface, not of the house footprint. Slope makes a roof larger than the floor plan. A 6-in-12 pitch is about 1.12 times the flat area, and a 9-in-12 is closer to 1.25. This page does not apply that factor. Enter squares of roof surface.
Architectural asphalt is the laminated shingle on most US houses, with underlayment, a flashing allowance, and labor to tear off one layer and haul it away. Metal is standing seam, not cheaper exposed-fastener agricultural panels. On metal, the material line is most of the bill.
Both ranges are 2026 US national averages for a straightforward house. Rotten plywood, a second tear-off layer, a pitch steeper than 7-in-12, and a chimney that needs extra flashing are not included. Those are why two quotes for the same roof can differ by thousands. If your roof has any of them, treat the high column as the starting point.
2026 US national average
Typical total
$16,080
Materials $6,480Labor $9,600
- Low
- $10,320
- Typical
- $16,080
- High
- $23,280
Breakdown
Each line is the typical column, rounded to the nearest dollar. The low and high totals use the low and high price of every line.
Architectural asphalt
24.0 squares · 2,400 sq ft of roof surface
$16,080Mat $6,480 · Labor $9,600
- Enter squares of roof surface, not the house footprint. A 6-in-12 pitch is about 1.12 times the flat area.
- Labor includes tear-off of one layer and haul-away. A second layer, rotten decking, and pitches steeper than 7-in-12 are not included.
- Asphalt is an architectural laminated shingle with underlayment and a flashing allowance.
Worked example
Twenty-four squares is 2,400 square feet of roof surface, a common one-story house once the slope is included. The page opens on architectural asphalt, with one layer of tear-off in the labor.
The typical total is $16,080, from $6,480 of materials and $9,600 of labor. Low is $10,320 and high is $23,280. Per square, the typical column is $670.
Switch to standing-seam metal and the material line becomes most of the bill. If you only know the footprint of the house, convert it to roof surface before you type the squares. This page will not do that pitch math for you.