Roof replacement cost in Detroit: what owners paid (2023 survey)
Detroit owners paid a median $8,200 for roofing work: $1,800 below the U.S. median, 12th-highest of 15 big metros (Census Bureau, 2023). When owners hired it out, the middle half paid $6,000 to $15,000.
What Detroit owners paid
$8,200
This is historical spending: work done in about 2021 to 2023 on owner-occupied homes, reported in the 2023 survey.
Margin of error ±$1,415: at 90% confidence the Detroit median lies between $6,785 and $9,615.
Hired out: $9,000 typical, from 57 hired-out jobs in the survey sample.
How Detroit compares
- U.S. median, same work
- $10,000
- Rank, highest first
- 12 of 15
Detroit: $8,200. The big-metro medians run from $8,000 to $15,000.
A new roof in Detroit at today’s prices
The figures above are what owners paid for work done in 2021 to 2023. Here is our estimate of a re-roof today, for the roof you enter in Detroit: shingles and underlayment at one store’s posted price, the dumpster for the old roof and the permit, the crew’s time at what a roofer costs an employer, and the share of the price roofing contractors spend on overhead and keep as profit. Each figure says where it comes from, and the crew time and the overhead share are yours to change.
Filled in as an example: a 2,000 sq ft roof with one layer to tear off. Type over any of it with your own roof and your roofer’s figures.
Our estimate for this roof: $11,293, itemized below.
| Part | Cost | Where the figure comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Shingles: 66 bundles | $3,431 | GAF Timberline HDZ, Charcoal at $51.99 a bundle, Ward Lumber in Jay, NY, ; 10% extra for cuts |
| Underlayment: 3 rolls | $270 | GAF FeltBuster synthetic roofing felt at $90 a roll, A+ Roofing Supply in Sugar Hill, GA, |
| Tear-off: about 2 tons | $556 | A 20-yard dumpster with 2.5 tons and 14 days included, Roll-Off Dumpster Direct’s posted price for Detroit, MI, . Posted for general waste: ask about shingles before you book. Sized for 200 lb a square a layer, the weight of new shingles; an old roof with its felt and nails often weighs more. |
| Permit | Not added | Detroit charges $271.43 for the first $2,000 of project cost plus $34.09 for each further $1,000 up to $25,000, on its own estimate of the cost (schedule checked ). Your building department decides which fee a re-roof takes, so none is added here. |
| Labor: 60 worker-hours | $2,631 | 3 a square for 20 squares, at about $44 an hour, the employer’s cost of a roofer earning the median wage in the Detroit area |
| Overhead and profit | $4,405 | 39% of the price, roofing contractors’ average in 2022, homes and commercial work together: what was left of their receipts after materials, work they subcontracted and their crews’ pay and benefits, for office staff, rent, insurance, vehicles, fuel, taxes and profit (Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census) |
| Our estimate from these inputs | $11,293 | Not a roofer’s price: what these parts, this crew time and this overhead share add up to. A fair quote can be higher, since it also pays for what is not counted here. Before sales tax and delivery. Not counted: starter strip, ridge cap, drip edge, nails, flashing and vents (the roofing calculator counts them from your roof’s edges), an ice barrier along the eaves where your code asks for one, new sheathing. |
What an hour costs: no public source prices a roofing crew by the job, so the estimate counts its time. Roofers in the Detroit area earn a median $30.48 an hour (BLS, May 2025). Benefits make up 30.5% of what construction employers spend an hour on pay and benefits (all trades, BLS, June 2026), so an hour of a roofer at that wage costs an employer about $44.
Type a quote’s total above to set it against this estimate.
What Detroit roof permits declared
Detroit’s building permits for roof replacements on one- and two-family houses issued from October 2025 to September 2026 declared a median of $11,600; the middle half declared $6,900 to $17,600 (461 permits).
This is the cost of the work as the applicant estimated it on the permit, not an invoice or a final price. It counts the city’s alteration permits on one- and two-family houses whose scope of work is the roof, or the roof and its gutters; a permit that also takes in solar panels, windows or other work is left out. Set it beside the estimate above and your written quotes.
Source: City of Detroit, Building Permits (BSEED), read .
- Miami$16,000$12,000–$30,000
- Seattle$15,100$10,000–$25,000
- San Francisco$15,000$10,000–$26,000
- Los Angeles$14,300$7,500–$17,000
- Chicago$13,000$10,000–$20,000
- Dallas$12,000$7,000–$22,000
- New York City$12,000$8,000–$15,000
- Boston$11,000$6,300–$15,000
- Houston$10,800$7,100–$15,000
- Atlanta$10,000$6,000–$16,000
- Phoenix$10,000$4,000–$15,000
- Riverside$10,000$6,000–$14,300
- Washington DC$10,000$5,000–$15,000
- Detroit$9,000$6,000–$15,000
- Philadelphia$8,600$4,300–$12,000
A metro is shown when at least 30 hired-out jobs in the survey sample stand behind it.
What it covers
Every roofing job owners reported, all roof sizes and materials together: a small roof costs less, a large or steep one more.
The Census category is “Roofing” within “Exterior Additions and Replacements”: what Detroit-area homeowners told the Census Bureau they paid, every size of job together.
Before you compare quotes
Ask every contractor to price the same scope, in writing. A quote outside the hired-out range above is a reason to ask what it covers, not proof that it is wrong. Are tear-off, decking repairs, flashing and disposal included?
Check the roofer’s license
Michigan requires a residential builder license or a maintenance and alteration license that includes roofing for work of $600 or more. Michigan LARA: find or verify a licensed professional (checked October 7, 2026).
Measure your job with the material calculator. Then put the quotes in the matching quote worksheet to see each one's scope beside its price.