Short answer: As of October 2026, the two highest-scoring roofing contractors in the Joplin, MO-KS metro on The Roofing Brief Contractor Score are Glidewell Roofing LLC (72.8), McDowell Roofing And Restoration (63.4). Every one holds a manufacturer certification that can be verified independently, every rating below has been corroborated against at least one source outside the certification registry, and no company paid to appear here.
The Roofing Brief scored 2 certified roofing contractors serving the Joplin metro on a published, reproducible formula, then researched each of the top two individually to confirm its record. Joplin is the city the 2011 EF5 tornado flattened, and it now writes a stricter roof-to-wall rule into its building code than the model code requires. Missouri licenses no roofers, but the City of Joplin does license contractors, with a bond and insurance requirement, and the metro’s Kansas county requires state roofer registration. Only two certified firms appear in the manufacturer directory for Joplin; both are ranked, and five more credentialed local firms are listed for comparison.
What a Joplin roof is up against
Missouri has no state roofing licence or registration; the Division of Professional Registration licenses electrical contractors but no roofing or general contractor category, and no bill to create one has been enacted. The checking happens at city level. The City of Joplin requires a contractor licence backed by a business licence, a $10,000 licence and permit bond, at least $300,000 of liability cover naming the City as certificate holder, and workers’ compensation proof or an exemption affidavit. The annual fee is $200 for a residential general builder or $150 for a specialty subcontractor, and City Code Sec. 26-65 requires work other than a homeowner’s own to be done by permitted, licensed contractors.
The metro crosses the state line. Cherokee County is in Kansas, where every roofing contractor must hold a registration certificate from the Attorney General under the Kansas Roofing Registration Act, in force since 1 July 2013; an unregistered roofer faces civil penalties and cannot sue in Kansas courts over its roofing work. A firm working on both sides of State Line Road needs both the Joplin licence and the Kansas registration.
On the Missouri side, RSMo 407.725 governs storm-claim contracts. A roofer may not offer to pay or rebate any part of your deductible and may not negotiate your claim, and you may cancel before midnight on the fifth business day after your insurer denies all or part of the claim in writing. Joplin’s own reroof permit costs $25 for a residential roof, and the application asks whether the contractor on a pre-1978 home is EPA lead-safe certified.
This is hail country. Across 2016 to 2025 Jasper and Newton counties and Cherokee County, Kansas logged 237 hail reports, 196 of an inch or more and 17 of two inches or more, the largest 3.0 inches south of Jasper on 9 March 2017, along with 327 thunderstorm wind reports and 23 tornado segments. May alone produced 173 events. On 22 May 2019, eight years to the day after the EF5, an EF3 crossed from Kansas through the Briarbrook subdivision north of Joplin and caused $5.25 million in damage. The city’s median home was built in 1985, and 46.6 percent of its homes are rented.
The 2 best roofers in Joplin, MO
Scored 2026-10-05. The metro mean rating used as the Bayesian prior for Joplin is 4.85, across a pool of 2 certified contractors.
| Rank | Company | TRB Score | Certification | Rating (reviews) | Adjusted | In business since | Based in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Glidewell Roofing LLC | 72.8 | Certified | 4.9 (375) | 4.894 | not published | Joplin, MO |
| 2 | McDowell Roofing And Restoration | 63.4 | Certified | 4.8 (90) | 4.818 | not published | Carthage, MO |
1. Glidewell Roofing LLC — TRB Score 72.8
Glidewell Roofing LLC is based in Joplin, MO, led by Josh Glidewell, Dustin Barton and Chris Freeman, co-owners (BBB), BBB accredited since 31 March 2026, A- rating, no complaints, and holds Certified standing on the GAF certification registry.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 12 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 35.8 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 15.0 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 10.0 | 10 |
| Total | 72.8 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- Glidewell Roofing LLC accredited since 31 March 2026 with an A- rating, business start 3 March 2026, co-owners Josh Glidewell, Dustin Barton and Chris Freeman, no complaints.. BBB business profile
- The same GAF contractor ID appears under the earlier name Glidewell Roof and Solar, Joplin.. GAF directory mirror
What they actually do. Residential and commercial roofing, storm damage and insurance work.
Why it ranks here. The higher-scoring of Joplin’s two certified roofers, with a 4.9 across 375 reviews, based on North Range Line Road and serving Joplin, Webb City, Carthage, Neosho and Pittsburg, Kansas. Two of the predecessor’s owners carry on in the new company.
Best fit for: Joplin and Webb City homeowners who want the deeper review record of the two.
What we would want clarified. The business has just changed entity. Its directory listing belonged to Glidewell Roof and Solar at a different Range Line address; BBB now shows a new LLC that began trading on 3 March 2026, with one former co-owner no longer listed, so most of the 375 reviews were earned by the predecessor. Its BBB rating is A-, not A+, and its stated experience conflicts across sources. The Kansas registration number on its site could not be checked against the Attorney General register. Certification tier and reviews are unverified. We publish this because a ranking that only prints the flattering findings is an advertisement, not an assessment.
Verify the certification yourself on the GAF registry listing. The number carried on that listing is (417) 726-5111, which is the registry’s contact line and is often a directory tracking number rather than the contractor’s own: take the number from the company’s own website and compare the two.
2. McDowell Roofing And Restoration — TRB Score 63.4
McDowell Roofing And Restoration is based in Carthage, MO, BBB no BBB profile found, and holds Certified standing on the GAF certification registry.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 12 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 32.7 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 11.4 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 7.3 | 10 |
| Total | 63.4 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- Describes a third-generation family firm doing residential and commercial work across Joplin, Neosho, Lamar and Nevada in Missouri, Parsons and Pittsburg in Kansas, and northwest Arkansas.. Company website
What they actually do. Residential and commercial roofing, storm restoration, siding, windows and gutters.
Why it ranks here. A family roofing firm based near Carthage, inside the metro in Jasper County about 11 miles from Joplin, with a 4.8 across 90 reviews and a published service area that names Joplin.
Best fit for: Carthage and east Jasper County addresses.
What we would want clarified. The thinnest independent record of any firm we rank: we found no BBB profile, no principal named by an independent source, and no listing in Owens Corning’s local network. Its own pages give its age as both since 1970 and 40 years. If it works in Cherokee County, Kansas it needs Attorney General registration, which we could not check. Certification tier and reviews are unverified. We publish this because a ranking that only prints the flattering findings is an advertisement, not an assessment.
Verify the certification yourself on the GAF registry listing. The number carried on that listing is (417) 623-4717, which is the registry’s contact line and is often a directory tracking number rather than the contractor’s own: take the number from the company’s own website and compare the two.
Other credentialed roofers serving Joplin
Only two certified firms are ranked here. These five sit in Owens Corning’s contractor network in the Joplin area. They are not scored and we are not recommending them; we treat their own claims as leads rather than verified facts.
| Company | Verified credential |
|---|---|
| McKay Quality Roofing | Owens Corning Preferred with a Neosho office in Newton County; BBB accredited since 2018 at A+, founded 1982, no complaints closed in three years. |
| Bridgewater Roofing | Owens Corning Preferred on South Willard Avenue in Joplin; BBB accredited at A+, trading since 1999, no complaints closed in three years. |
| Ridgeline Roofing and Solar, LLC | Owens Corning Preferred on East 32nd Street in Joplin; BBB accredited since 2021 at A+, trading since 2020. A separately named Ridgeline Roofing LLC is a different business. |
| Superior Roofing & Construction LLC | Top tier on the Owens Corning locator on East 7th Street in Joplin; BBB A+ but not accredited, trading since 2021, BBB file opened only in 2026. |
| Millwood Co. Roofing & Construction | Owens Corning Preferred on North Main Street in Joplin; BBB A+ but not accredited, trading only since 2023. |
The 196 hail reports behind a Joplin roof
Aggregate hail counts tell you very little about a specific roof. These are the individual events: every severe-weather report logged by the National Weather Service across the 3 counties of the Joplin, MO-KS statistical area over ten years, with the dates, the stone sizes and the towns they landed on. Over that decade the metro logged 237 hail reports, 327 severe thunderstorm and high wind reports and 23 tornadoes. Reported property damage from hail, severe wind and tornado over that decade totalled $15.1 million; flood and winter-storm losses are counted separately and are not included.
The biggest hail to fall on Joplin in a decade
| Date | Stone size | Reported near | County |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 March 2017 | 3.0 in | Jasper | Jasper |
| 3 May 2020 | 2.75 in | Waco | Jasper |
| 4 May 2020 | 2.75 in | Baxter Spgs | Cherokee |
| 9 March 2017 | 2.75 in | Wentworth | Newton |
| 9 March 2017 | 2.75 in | Jasper | Jasper |
| 9 March 2017 | 2.75 in | Carterville | Jasper |
The largest stone on record for this metro fell on 9 March 2017 near Jasper, measured at 3.0 inches. That is baseball sized, comfortably past the point where a roof is written off rather than repaired.
Wind. The strongest thunderstorm gust logged in the metro was 87 knots, about 100 mph, near Morgan Hgts on 1 April 2024. Asphalt shingles begin lifting at roughly 67 mph when they are correctly nailed, and considerably below that when they are not.
Tornadoes. 23 tornadoes touched down in these counties over the decade, the strongest rated EF3 near Jasper on 22 May 2019.
What the National Weather Service wrote about it
The NWS logs a written account of each severe-weather episode. This is its description of the 1 April 2024 event near Morgan Hgts, reproduced verbatim:
A NWS storm survey found that straight line winds caused significant roof damage to several businesses in downtown Carthage. Many power poles were broken and multiple trees were snapped. Peak winds were estimated to be 100 mph.
A roof in this metro is built against events like that one, as recorded by the agency that recorded it rather than by a contractor selling the repair.
When it happens. Severe weather reports cluster in May (173), April (110), March (73). The worst years on record were 2017 (105), 2019 (83), 2020 (76). If you are scheduling non-urgent work in Joplin, the months outside that window are when crews are least stretched and least likely to be triaging emergency callouts ahead of your job.
Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, county-level detail files 2016 to 2025, filtered to the counties of this statistical area by The Roofing Brief. Damage figures are as reported to the NWS and undercount insured losses.
What to do with this. Joplin sees enough damaging hail that a Class 4 impact-rated shingle is worth pricing, though not automatically worth buying. Get both quotes and weigh the premium against any insurance discount.
After the EF5: the connector rule in Joplin’s code
On 22 May 2011 a tornado rated EF5, with winds estimated above 200 mph and a path up to a mile wide, crossed nearly 22 miles through Joplin and Duquesne. The City of Joplin and NIST both put the death toll at 161. NIST called it the deadliest single tornado in the United States in the 64 years official records had been kept, destroying some 8,000 structures.
The City counted 7,500 homes in Joplin damaged or destroyed, about 4,000 of them destroyed, displacing an estimated 9,200 people. Missouri’s insurance regulator recorded 8,647 residential property claims with $535.7 million paid by October 2012, and $2.02 billion of total losses across all lines. The city opened building permits for the whole storm area on 28 July 2011, and by May 2016 it had built 1,657 new houses, close to one a day.
Today’s Joplin residential code goes beyond the model code where roofs meet walls. Its amended IRC section R802.11 requires every truss and rafter to be fastened to the supporting wall with mechanical connections meeting the code’s uplift table, and states that in no case may the connection be made by toe-nailing alone. The city also requires foundation anchor bolts every 4 feet rather than the model 6, sets a non-reducible 30 psf minimum roof snow load, and bans corrugated sheet iron or steel as roofing on any building. We could not find a primary city document stating why the connector rule was adopted, so we do not claim it was a response to the tornado.
Nationally, NIST’s investigation produced 16 recommendations, led by performance-based standards for tornado-resistant design, and those fed the 2022 edition of ASCE 7. Those provisions apply to high-occupancy and critical buildings, not ordinary homes, which is why a local rule like Joplin’s matters for a house.
For a reroof, the practical point is to ask what the roofer will find and do at the wall line. A reroof that opens the deck is the moment to confirm the trusses are tied down with connectors, and in Joplin that is the code standard for new framing.
Joplin’s tornado record and the rules a homeowner can check
| Item | Figure or rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 22 May 2011 tornado rating | EF5, winds above 200 mph, path nearly 22 miles | NWS via NOAA NCEI Storm Events |
| Deaths | 161 | City of Joplin; NIST |
| Homes damaged or destroyed in Joplin | 7,500, about 4,000 destroyed | City of Joplin recovery fact sheet |
| Residential insurance claims | 8,647, $535.7 million paid | Missouri Department of Insurance via City of Joplin |
| New houses built by May 2016 | 1,657 | City of Joplin recovery fact sheet |
| Truss and rafter connection | Mechanical connectors required; toe-nailing alone not allowed | Joplin City Code Sec. 26-66, IRC R802.11 as amended |
| Anchor bolt spacing | 4 feet on centre, against 6 in the model code | Joplin IRC R403.1.6 as amended |
| City contractor licence | Bond $10,000; liability $300,000; workers’ compensation | City of Joplin contractor requirements |
| Residential reroof permit | $25 | City of Joplin permit application |
| Kansas side | Attorney General roofer registration required | K.S.A. 50-6,123 |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database; NIST Joplin tornado investigation; City of Joplin May 2016 recovery fact sheet, contractor licence requirements, reroof permit application and 2018 IRC amendments (Council Bill 2019-356); RSMo 407.725; K.S.A. 50-6,123; US Census Bureau ACS 2020 to 2024.
What to verify before a Joplin contractor starts
There is no state roofing licence in MO. Missouri has no state roofing licence and no state roofer registration. Bills to create one have been filed repeatedly, including Senate Bill 326 in 2021 and House Bill 1348 in 2025, but none has been enacted, so claims that roofers must register with the state are wrong. What Missouri does have is a storm-claim statute: under RSMo 407.725 a contractor may not offer to pay or rebate any part of an insurance deductible, may not represent or negotiate on a homeowner’s insurance claim, and must give the homeowner a written right to cancel.
The cancellation right in RSMo 407.725 runs until midnight on the fifth business day after the insurer tells the homeowner in writing that all or part of the claim is not covered, and the contractor must attach a detachable Notice of Cancellation form to the contract. Payments must be returned within ten days of cancellation, less the reasonable value of emergency work the homeowner acknowledged in writing. A violation is an unfair practice under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, which the Attorney General enforces.
That absence is the most important fact on this page. Where a state issues no credential, a manufacturer certification that can be revoked is the only quality signal a homeowner can actually check, which is why this ranking is built on certification rather than star ratings.
Check here: RSMo 407.725 (Missouri Revisor of Statutes). Because the state licenses no one, any licensing happens at city or county level, and many Missouri jurisdictions require only a business licence and a reroof permit. Ask which local licence and permit apply, check the contract for the boldface cancellation notice the statute requires, and treat any offer to cover your deductible as a red flag: it is unlawful in Missouri.
Four checks to run before you sign anything, in any state.
- Verify certification at the source. Use the GAF verification tool rather than trusting a badge image on a company website.
- Get the certificate of insurance from the insurer, not the contractor, and confirm general liability and workers compensation are both active on the day work starts.
- Confirm who pulls the permit. If a contractor asks you to pull it as the homeowner, that moves liability onto you. Decline.
- Get warranty terms in writing before any deposit, and check the manufacturer warranty being promised actually requires the certification tier the contractor holds.
How deep the Joplin certified market really is
2 certified roofing contractors serve the principal cities of the Joplin, MO-KS statistical area, of which 0 hold the top President’s Club tier. The pool carries 465 customer reviews between them at a mean rating of 4.85. The statistical area had a 2024 population of 207,131, a change of 3.17% against the 2020 census base, per the U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 estimates.
How these Joplin rankings were produced
Every contractor in the Joplin, MO-KS pool was scored out of 100 on four published components: certification tier, a Bayesian adjusted rating, review depth and distance from the metro centre. In this metro that meant scoring 2 certified contractors, of whom 0 hold President’s Club standing and 0 Master Elite, against a metro mean rating of 4.85. The top two were then researched individually against Better Business Bureau records, state licence registers and manufacturer directories. Where that research turned up something awkward it is on the page, and no placement was paid for.
The full method, the weightings, what the GAF certification tiers actually mean, who is eligible to be ranked and what we do not claim are all set out on our roofer ranking methodology page. Last updated: October 2026. Scoring run: 2026-10-05. Corrections go to the editor and are actioned on verification.
The questions that come up most in Joplin
Who is the best roofer in Joplin, MO?
Glidewell Roofing LLC of Joplin, MO scores highest in the Joplin metro on The Roofing Brief Contractor Score, at 72.8 out of 100 as of October 2026. It holds Certified certification with a 4.9 rating across 375 reviews. Highest-scoring is not the same as best fit for your specific job, and the company behind it scores within 9.4 points.
How many certified roofing contractors serve Joplin?
2 contractors on the GAF certification registry serve the principal cities of the Joplin, MO-KS statistical area as of October 2026, of which 0 hold President’s Club status.
How much damaging hail does Joplin get?
The Joplin, MO-KS statistical area recorded 196 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 17 of 2 inches or larger between 2016 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Events Database. The largest hailstone reported measured 3.0 inches.
Did any contractor pay to appear on this list?
No. The Roofing Brief takes no placement fees, no lead fees and no affiliate commission from any roofing contractor. Ranking comes entirely from the published formula applied to public registry data, followed by an individual research pass on the top two.
What was the worst hailstorm in Joplin in the last ten years?
The largest hailstone logged by the National Weather Service in the Joplin, MO-KS statistical area between 2016 and 2025 measured 3.0 inches, reported near Jasper on 9 March 2017. That is baseball sized, comfortably past the point where a roof is written off rather than repaired. Across the decade the metro recorded 237 hail reports. Reported property damage from hail, severe wind and tornado over that decade totalled $15.1 million; flood and winter-storm losses are counted separately and are not included.
When is the worst time of year for roof damage in Joplin?
Severe-weather reports in the Joplin, MO-KS statistical area cluster in May, April, March, on the NOAA record for 2016 to 2025. Outside those months local crews are not triaging storm damage, so lead times are shorter and scheduling is easier.
Do roofers need a licence in MO?
Missouri has no state roofing licence and no state roofer registration. Bills to create one have been filed repeatedly, including Senate Bill 326 in 2021 and House Bill 1348 in 2025, but none has been enacted, so claims that roofers must register with the state are wrong. What Missouri does have is a storm-claim statute: under RSMo 407.725 a contractor may not offer to pay or rebate any part of an insurance deductible, may not represent or negotiate on a homeowner’s insurance claim, and must give the homeowner a written right to cancel. The cancellation right in RSMo 407.725 runs until midnight on the fifth business day after the insurer tells the homeowner in writing that all or part of the claim is not covered, and the contractor must attach a detachable Notice of Cancellation form to the contract. Payments must be returned within ten days of cancellation, less the reasonable value of emergency work the homeowner acknowledged in writing. A violation is an unfair practice under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, which the Attorney General enforces.
What should I check before hiring a roofer in Joplin?
Because the state licenses no one, any licensing happens at city or county level, and many Missouri jurisdictions require only a business licence and a reroof permit. Ask which local licence and permit apply, check the contract for the boldface cancellation notice the statute requires, and treat any offer to cover your deductible as a red flag: it is unlawful in Missouri.
After the EF5: the connector rule in Joplin’s code?
On 22 May 2011 a tornado rated EF5, with winds estimated above 200 mph and a path up to a mile wide, crossed nearly 22 miles through Joplin and Duquesne. The City of Joplin and NIST both put the death toll at 161. NIST called it the deadliest single tornado in the United States in the 64 years official records had been kept, destroying some 8,000 structures.
Is Joplin a hard market to find a good roofer in?
Joplin is the city the 2011 EF5 tornado flattened, and it now writes a stricter roof-to-wall rule into its building code than the model code requires. Missouri licenses no roofers, but the City of Joplin does license contractors, with a bond and insurance requirement, and the metro’s Kansas county requires state roofer registration. Only two certified firms appear in the manufacturer directory for Joplin; both are ranked, and five more credentialed local firms are listed for comparison.
Roofer rankings for other metros
The Roofing Brief scores certified roofing contractors in the 400 largest U.S. metropolitan and micropolitan areas on the same formula.
- Best roofers in Springfield, MO, about 67 miles from Joplin
- Best roofers in Fayetteville, AR, about 72 miles from Joplin
- Best roofers in Tulsa, OK, about 102 miles from Joplin
- Best roofers in Fort Smith, AR, about 119 miles from Joplin
- Best roofers in Kansas City, MO, another MO metro on the same formula
- Best roofers in Columbia, MO, another MO metro on the same formula
- Best roofers in Elkhart, IN, a metro of comparable size
- Best roofers in St. George, UT, a metro of comparable size
See the full index of all 400 metro roofer rankings, or read how to find and vet a roofing contractor anywhere in the country.
Cite this analysis
The Roofing Brief. “Best Roofers in Joplin, MO: The Roofing Brief Contractor Score.” Published October 2026. Inputs: GAF certification registry; NOAA Storm Events Database 2016-2025; U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 population estimates; Better Business Bureau and independent review-platform records for each ranked contractor.