Roof replacement cost in Seattle: what owners paid (2023 survey)
Seattle owners paid a median $15,000 for roofing work: $5,000 above the U.S. median, tied for the highest of 15 big metros (Census Bureau, 2023). When owners hired it out, the middle half paid $10,000 to $25,000.
What Seattle owners paid
$15,000
This is historical spending: work done in about 2021 to 2023 on owner-occupied homes, reported in the 2023 survey.
Margin of error ±$1,598: at 90% confidence the Seattle median lies between $13,402 and $16,598.
Hired out: $15,100 typical, from 93 hired-out jobs in the survey sample.
How Seattle compares
- U.S. median, same work
- $10,000
- Rank, highest first
- Tied at 1 of 15
Seattle: $15,000. The highest of the big metros.
A new roof in Seattle 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 Seattle: 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: $11,945, 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 | $925 to $1,140 | A 20-yard dumpster with 2 tons and 10 days included, ZTERS’s posted price for the Seattle area, . Standard bin: ask for a heavy-debris bin for shingles. 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 | Seattle works out its permit fee from an index on the value of the work: $325 for the first $1,000 plus $1.60 for each further $100 up to $25,000, then $709 plus $1.55 for each $100 up to $50,000. The permit fee is that index, and plan review adds 40% or 100% of it again, by how the plans are reviewed (schedule checked ). Your building department decides which fee a re-roof takes, so none is added here. |
| Labor: 60 worker-hours | $2,660 | 3 a square for 20 squares, at about $44 an hour, the employer’s cost of a roofer earning the median wage in the Seattle area |
| Overhead and profit | $4,659 | 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 | $11,945 | 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 Seattle area earn a median $30.81 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.
- 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 Seattle-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
Washington requires contractors to register with Labor and Industries, whose lookup also shows the bond and workers’ compensation account. Washington Labor and Industries: verify a contractor (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.