Why home improvement cost guides disagree
Two cost guides can both be right and still be thousands of dollars apart, because they count different jobs, people, houses, places and years. The middle half of owners who hired out a roof replacement paid $6,000 to $15,000, so one “typical” figure can never fit every roof.
The figures below are the Census Bureau’s (what owners told the 2023 American Housing Survey they paid for work done in 2021–2023, and what new houses cost in 2025), plus one price index from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
1. An estimate or a price paid
Some guides price one defined job, such as a 2,000 sq ft roof in architectural shingles, at today’s rates. Others report what owners actually paid for every job in a category, from a small garage roof to a full tear-off on a large house. Both are useful, but they answer different questions, so they rarely match. The figures on this site’s cost pages are of the second kind.
2. The middle and the spread
A single figure hides how far real jobs spread. Owners who hired out a kitchen remodel paid a median of $12,000, but the middle half paid $5,000 to $25,000, and a quarter paid more than $25,000. A guide that quotes one number for “a kitchen remodel” is picking a point in that range.
3. Who did the work
Owners who remodeled a bathroom themselves paid a median of $2,000, mostly for materials. Owners who hired it out paid $8,000. Counted together, the median is $5,000, a figure that fits neither group. Of these bathroom jobs, 57% were hired out.
4. The size of the house
A bigger house has a bigger roof. Hired-out roof jobs on homes under 1,500 sq ft had a median of $7,500; on homes of 2,500 sq ft or more the median was $13,000.
- Every home$10,000$6,000–$15,000
- Under 1,500 sq ft$7,500$4,500–$12,000
- 1,500 to 2,499 sq ft$11,000$7,500–$15,000
- 2,500 sq ft or more$13,000$8,600–$20,000
5. Where you live
Among the 15 big metros the survey reports, the median hired-out roof job ran from $8,600 in Philadelphia to $16,000 in Miami. A national figure mixes every place, so it runs high for some cities and low for others. The roof replacement cost page charts every metro.
6. When the work was done
The survey covers work done in 2021–2023. Prices have moved since. The price makers charge for asphalt roofing products rose 3.9% in the year to August 2026 alone (Bureau of Labor Statistics producer price index). A guide built on older figures, and a quote written this month, will differ for that reason alone.
7. Median or average
A median is the middle job: half cost less, half more. An average adds every job and divides, so a few very large jobs pull it up. New houses started on owners’ land in 2025 had a median contract price of $404,000 and an average of $576,500. A guide that says “average” and one that says “typical” can both be right.
How sure is the figure?
A survey figure is an estimate from the homes it asked. The U.S. roof median rests on 2,217 hired-out jobs; Miami’s rests on 72 and carries a margin of error of ±$3,650 at 90% confidence. A figure without a sample or a margin cannot tell you how close it is.
Using a cost figure on your own job
- Match the job. Check what the figure counts: hired out or not, the size of the job, the year and the place.
- Use the range to ask questions. A quote outside the middle half is a reason to ask what it includes, not proof that it is wrong.
- Measure first. A material calculator, such as the roofing calculator, turns your measurements into the list a contractor prices.
- Compare quotes for the same work. Put two or three written quotes side by side in a quote worksheet, so every price covers the same job.