Short answer: As of October 2026, the two highest-scoring roofing contractors in the Manhattan, KS metro on The Roofing Brief Contractor Score are Superior Roofing & Exteriors (82.1), McGee Roofing (58.7). All of them carry a verifiable manufacturer certification, every rating here was cross-checked against an independent record, and no money changed hands for any placement.
The Roofing Brief scored 2 certified roofing contractors serving the Manhattan metro on a published, reproducible formula, then researched each of the top two individually to confirm its record. Manhattan sits in one of the most active hail corridors in Kansas: 213 hail reports in three counties over the decade, 32 of them 2 inches or larger, and in June 2024 softball-size stones fell on the city itself. Yet its costliest roof event was wind, a June 2022 downburst with an EF2 inside it that tore roofs off buildings just east of the K-State campus. A roofer here needs both a state registration and a city licence earned by exam. Only two certified firms appear in the directory for the area, and both are ranked.
Quick picks for Manhattan:
- Superior Roofing & Exteriors: best overall (TRB Score 82.1). Verified services: roof repair, storm damage work, commercial roofing, siding, windows.
- McGee Roofing: best for flat and built-up roofs (TRB Score 58.7). Verified services: flat and low-slope roofing, commercial roofing, gutters, siding, storm damage work.
What a Manhattan roof is up against
Kansas requires every roofing contractor to hold a registration certificate from the Attorney General, with at least $500,000 of liability insurance, workers’ compensation or an exemption, and a current Kansas tax clearance; there is no exam and no bond. The only exemption is for someone whose every roofing job that year is under $2,000, and it is lost by anyone who advertises as a roofer. Working unregistered can bring a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation, and the registration number must appear on every permit, vehicle, sign and contract.
The City of Manhattan adds its own licence: any contractor doing permitted work needs a city general contractor licence, earned by scoring at least 75 percent on an approved code exam, with $500,000 of liability cover and 12 hours of continuing education every two years. The city enforces the 2021 residential code and does not exempt reroofing from permits. Fees run on value: $56.09 for the first $2,000 plus $11.34 per further $1,000, about $204 on a $15,000 reroof, and starting before the permit can double it.
Kansas has no roofing-specific insurance protections: no ban on deductible rebates and no cancellation right after a claim denial, since a 2011 bill to add both died in committee. Violations of the registration act count as deceptive acts under the consumer protection act, and the Attorney General’s enforcement index includes three 2018 cases against unregistered roofers in Riley and Geary counties.
Across 2016 to 2025 Riley, Geary and Pottawatomie counties logged 213 hail reports, the largest 3.5 inches in Manhattan, 224 thunderstorm wind reports, 127 of them at 58 knots or more, and 20 tornado records. 2024 was the worst hail year, with 53 reports of an inch or more. Winter adds blizzards and ice; Manhattan measured 15 inches of snow on 5 January 2025. With Fort Riley and K-State, nearly half the metro’s homes are rented, 56.5 percent in the city.
The 2 best roofers in Manhattan, KS
Scored 2026-10-09. The metro mean rating used as the Bayesian prior for Manhattan is 4.65, across a pool of 2 certified contractors.
| Rank | Company | TRB Score | Certification | Rating (reviews) | Adjusted | In business since | Based in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Superior Roofing & Exteriors | 82.1 | President’s Club | 4.5 (55) | 4.571 | not published | Manhattan, KS |
| 2 | McGee Roofing | 58.7 | Certified | 4.8 (68) | 4.736 | not published | Clay Center, KS |
1. Superior Roofing & Exteriors: best overall (TRB Score 82.1)
Superior Roofing & Exteriors is based in Manhattan, KS, led by Chris Sanders, owner, BBB accredited since 23 March 2021, A+ rating, two complaints in three years, and holds President’s Club standing on the GAF certification registry.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 35 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 22.9 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 14.3 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 10.0 | 10 |
| Total | 82.1 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- Superior Roofing, M & M, Inc., trading as Superior Roofing & Exteriors, registration CT-20-008002, in good standing; contact Christopher Sanders, Manhattan. The company website prints the same number.. Kansas Attorney General roofing register
- Accredited since March 2021 with an A+ rating; business started 1990 and incorporated 1993, under new ownership since May 2020; owner Christopher Sanders; service area includes Riley, Geary and Pottawatomie counties; two complaints in three years.. BBB business profile
- Serves Manhattan, Junction City, Salina, Topeka, Wichita and Garden City; residential and commercial roofing, storm and hail repair.. Company website
What they actually do. Residential and commercial roofing, storm and hail repair, siding and windows.
Services we could verify: roof repair, storm damage work, commercial roofing, siding, windows.
Why it ranks here. The only certified firm based in Manhattan, holding GAF’s President’s Club tier with 55 reviews and a Kansas registration in good standing. The business dates to about 1990, but it changed hands in May 2020, so its current owner’s record runs from then. A separate registration under the same contact name, for Flinthills Exteriors, is voluntarily suspended; we did not confirm it is the same person. No Attorney General enforcement action names the firm.
Best fit for: Manhattan homeowners who want a local President’s Club firm after a hail or wind claim.
What we would want clarified. Its 4.5 rating is the lower of the two, BBB records two complaints in three years, and it now markets statewide; ask for its City of Manhattan contractor licence. 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 (785) 537-8777, 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. McGee Roofing: best for flat and built-up roofs (TRB Score 58.7)
McGee Roofing is based in Clay Center, KS, led by Vernon McGee, owner, BBB accredited since 1 October 2002, A+ rating, no complaints, and holds Certified standing on the GAF certification registry.
Certifications held: Certified (GAF), Owens Corning Preferred Contractor. Certification by more than one manufacturer is uncommon and requires meeting each programme’s separate standards for insurance, training and track record.
| Score component | Points | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Certification tier | 12 | 35 |
| Adjusted rating | 29.5 | 40 |
| Review corpus depth | 15.0 | 15 |
| Metro proximity | 2.3 | 10 |
| Total | 58.7 | 100 |
Independently corroborated:
- McGee Roofing, LLC, registration CT-13-116282, in good standing, one of the original 2013 registrations; contact Vernon McGee, Clay Center.. Kansas Attorney General roofing register
- Accredited since October 2002 with an A+ rating and no complaints; business started 1977, LLC formed 2003; service area includes Riley, Geary and Pottawatomie counties.. BBB business profile
- Listed as an Owens Corning Preferred Contractor in Clay Center.. Owens Corning contractor locator
- Family owned for more than 40 years; residential and commercial roofing and solar; lists Riley County, Geary County, Junction City and Pottawatomie in its service area.. Company website
What they actually do. Residential and commercial roofing, flat and built-up roofs, gutters, siding, solar and storm work.
Services we could verify: flat and low-slope roofing, commercial roofing, gutters, siding, storm damage work.
Why it ranks here. A family firm in Clay Center, about 31 miles west and outside the metro, whose BBB profile and website both name Riley, Geary and Pottawatomie counties. It has 68 GAF reviews averaging 4.8, BBB accreditation since 2002 with no complaints, an Owens Corning Preferred listing and one of the first Kansas roofing registrations. BBB dates the business to 1977 and the site to more than 40 years, so we give no exact year.
Best fit for: Homeowners who want a long-established family roofer with a spotless BBB file, or solar with the roof.
What we would want clarified. It is based about 31 miles away and holds GAF’s entry Certified tier; ask whether it holds a City of Manhattan licence before a job inside the city. 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 (785) 632-6357, 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 registered roofers serving Manhattan
Only two certified firms clear our floor here. These four are based in Manhattan or Junction City and hold a Kansas roofing registration in good standing on the Attorney General’s register. We could not check their city licences, which are not public. They are not scored and we are not recommending them.
| Company | Verified credential |
|---|---|
| Bunker Construction & Roofing | Kansas registration CT-14-010226 in good standing; BBB accredited since 2015 at A+, trading since 1994, no complaints. Also builds and remodels homes. |
| Gevock Roofing, Inc. | Kansas registration CT-13-116324 in good standing; roofing, sheet metal and siding in Manhattan, incorporated 2004; no BBB complaints. |
| Flint Hills Roof Systems | Kansas registration CT-13-121374 in good standing; a Junction City sole proprietor trading since 1970; BBB A+, not accredited. |
| Danker Roofing | Kansas registration CT-13-114870 in good standing; BBB accredited since October 2026 at A+, trading since 1969. BBB records new ownership in 2020 while the register still shows the 2013 certificate, so confirm it is current. |
Roof replacement and repair in Manhattan, KS
Short answer: In Manhattan, start with Superior Roofing & Exteriors, the only certified firm based in the city and a GAF President’s Club contractor for storm and hail repair, or McGee Roofing of Clay Center, a long-established family firm that also handles flat and built-up roofs. The rule that matters most: a roofer needs both a Kansas Attorney General registration and a City of Manhattan contractor licence earned by passing a code exam.
Hail and wind are the main roof risks in Manhattan. Riley, Geary and Pottawatomie counties logged 213 hail reports from 2016 to 2025, 32 of them 2 inches or larger, and 2024 was the worst year, with 53 reports of an inch or more. On 13 June 2024 storms laid down 29 hail reports across Riley and Pottawatomie counties, including a 3.5 inch stone in Manhattan. The costliest event was wind: on 11 June 2022 straight-line winds of 90 to 100 mph blew portions of roofs off homes in Manhattan, and an EF2 just east of the K-State campus tore the roofs off several buildings.
The three counties also recorded 224 thunderstorm wind reports, 127 of them at 58 knots or more, and winter adds blizzards and ice; Manhattan measured 15 inches of snow on 5 January 2025. June, May and April see the most storm reports. For a replacement, the City of Manhattan enforces the 2021 residential code and does not exempt reroofing from permits. Permit fees run on value: $56.09 for the first $2,000 plus $11.34 per further $1,000, about $204 on a $15,000 reroof, and starting before the permit can double it.
Kansas requires every roofing contractor to hold a registration certificate from the Attorney General, with at least $500,000 of liability insurance, workers’ compensation or an exemption, and a current Kansas tax clearance; there is no exam and no bond. The registration number must appear on every permit, vehicle, sign and contract. Kansas has no roofing-specific insurance protections: no ban on deductible rebates and no cancellation right after a claim denial, since a 2011 bill to add both died in committee. Violations of the registration act count as deceptive acts under the consumer protection act.
Superior Roofing & Exteriors, based in Manhattan, covers residential and commercial roofing, storm and hail repair, siding and windows, and suits homeowners who want a local President’s Club firm after hail or wind. McGee Roofing, about 31 miles west in Clay Center, covers residential and commercial roofing, flat and built-up roofs, gutters, siding, solar and storm work, with BBB accreditation since 2002 and no complaints. Ask either firm for its City of Manhattan licence. Out-of-town crews that arrive after hail often hold the state registration and not the city licence.
| Rule | What applies | Source |
|---|---|---|
| State roofing registration | Required from the Kansas Attorney General; at least $500,000 liability insurance, workers’ compensation or an exemption, and a Kansas tax clearance; $250 fee; no exam and no bond. | K.S.A. 50-6,123 and 50-6,125; K.A.R. 16-8-6 |
| Unregistered roofing | Civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation; counts as a deceptive act under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act. | K.S.A. 50-6,123(b) |
| City contractor licence | City general contractor licence for permitted work, earned by scoring at least 75 percent on an approved code exam; $500,000 liability cover; 12 hours of continuing education every two years. | Manhattan Code 8-1 to 8-8 |
| Reroof permit | Reroofing is not exempt from permits under the 2021 residential code; $56.09 for the first $2,000 plus $11.34 per further $1,000, about $204 on a $15,000 reroof. | City of Manhattan; Manhattan IRC amendment R108.2 |
| Insurance and contract protections | No ban on deductible rebates and no cancellation right after a claim denial; a 2011 bill to add both died in committee. | Kansas roofing registration act |
| 25 percent rule | None found. Kansas does not enforce a statewide residential building code; reroofing limits come from the city or county’s adopted code. | ICC Kansas adoptions map |
Related guides: the 25% roofing rule in Kansas and every other state; how to decide between roof repair and replacement; how to read and compare a roof replacement quote; how to compare roof repair quotes; what homeowners insurance covers on a roof.
The 192 inch-plus hail reports behind a Manhattan 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 Manhattan, KS statistical area over ten years, with the dates, the stone sizes and the towns they landed on. Over that decade the metro logged 213 hail reports, 224 severe thunderstorm and high wind reports and 20 tornadoes. Reported property damage from hail, severe wind and tornado over that decade totalled $10.0 million; flood and winter-storm losses are counted separately and are not included.
The biggest hail to fall on Manhattan in a decade
| Date | Stone size | Reported near | County |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 June 2024 | 3.5 in | Manhattan | Riley |
| 13 March 2024 | 3.0 in | Grandview Plaza | Geary |
| 22 July 2017 | 3.0 in | St Clere | Pottawatomie |
| 6 May 2024 | 2.75 in | Riley | Riley |
| 11 July 2020 | 2.75 in | Westmoreland | Pottawatomie |
| 13 June 2024 | 2.75 in | Flush | Pottawatomie |
The largest stone on record for this metro fell on 13 June 2024 near Manhattan, measured at 3.5 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 100 knots, about 115 mph, near Manhattan on 11 June 2022. Asphalt shingles begin lifting at roughly 67 mph when they are correctly nailed, and considerably below that when they are not.
Tornadoes. 20 tornadoes touched down in these counties over the decade, the strongest rated EF2 near Manhattan on 11 June 2022.
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 11 June 2022 event near Manhattan, reproduced verbatim:
Received social media pictures showing damage to the chi omega and kappa alpha chapter building in manhattan. Damage was associated with a tornado, per nws storm survey results.
That is the kind of damage a roof in this metro has to be specified against, described by the agency that recorded it rather than by a contractor selling the repair.
When it happens. Severe weather reports cluster in June (117), May (102), April (81). The worst years on record were 2024 (103), 2022 (55), 2016 (52). If you are scheduling non-urgent work in Manhattan, 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. Manhattan 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.
Wind did more than hail: the June 2022 downburst and the 2024 softball swath
On the evening of 11 June 2022 a large high-precipitation supercell crawled south across north-east Kansas for five hours. Its rear-flank downdraft produced straight-line winds above 80 mph across a wide area and, at 7:20 pm, a two-minute EF2 of about 115 mph just east of the Kansas State University campus that tore the roofs off several buildings over a third of a mile.
The Weather Service was clear that the tornado was the smaller part: most of the property damage came from the straight-line winds, which in places did more harm than the tornadoes. Survey teams estimated 90 to 100 mph winds in Manhattan, where portions of roofs were blown off homes, and at Rocky Ford, where the K-State Mesonet logged a 72 knot gust. The tornado’s $10 million entry is the only damage figure on any of the 457 hail, wind and tornado records in the three counties across the decade.
Two years later hail hit the same city. Between 6:06 and 6:53 pm on 13 June 2024 storms laid down 29 hail reports across Riley and Pottawatomie counties, ten of them 2 inches or larger, from a 3.5 inch stone in Manhattan to 2.5 inches in Wamego. Three months earlier, a March 2024 storm had dropped 3 inch hail on Grandview Plaza. In all, Manhattan was the reported location of 23 of the decade’s hail reports.
NOAA recorded no damage figure for either 2024 hail event, which is common: the damage numbers in the federal record are sparse, and a quiet number does not mean a quiet year. 53 reports of inch-plus hail in 2024 was the highest of the decade by a wide margin.
After a storm here, check two credentials, not one: the roofer’s Kansas registration number, which must be written on your permit, and its City of Manhattan contractor licence, which requires passing a code exam. Out-of-town crews that arrive after hail often hold the first and not the second.
Manhattan’s storm record and the rules on a reroof
| Item | Figure or rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Manhattan EF2, 11 June 2022 | 115 mph; roofs torn off east of K-State; $10 million | NWS Topeka survey via NOAA NCEI |
| Straight-line winds, same evening | 90 to 100 mph; portions of roofs blown off homes | NWS Topeka survey via NOAA NCEI |
| Hail swath, 13 June 2024 | 29 reports; 10 at 2 inches or more; 3.5 inches in Manhattan | NOAA NCEI Storm Events |
| Inch-plus hail reports, 2024 | 53, the decade’s highest | NOAA NCEI Storm Events |
| State roofing registration | Required; $500,000 liability; $250 a year | K.S.A. 50-6,123 and 50-6,125; K.A.R. 16-8-6 |
| Unregistered roofing | Civil penalty up to $10,000 per violation | K.S.A. 50-6,123(b) |
| City contractor licence | Exam at 75%; $500,000 liability; 12 hours CE | Manhattan Code 8-1 to 8-8 |
| Reroof permit, $15,000 job | About $204 | Manhattan IRC amendment R108.2 |
| Snow, 5 January 2025 | 15 inches in Manhattan | NOAA NCEI, zone rows |
| Renter-occupied homes, city | 56.5% | ACS 2020 to 2024, B25003 |
Source: NWS Topeka event review and storm surveys and NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database (Riley, Geary and Pottawatomie counties and zone rows); NOAA 1991 to 2020 normals; K.S.A. 50-6,121 to 50-6,139 and K.A.R. 16-8; Kansas Attorney General roofing register and enforcement index; City of Manhattan Code chapter 8 and Ordinance 7609; Owens Corning contractor locator; BBB business profiles; US Census Bureau ACS 2020 to 2024.
Before you sign anything in Manhattan
Licensing is required in KS. Kansas requires every roofing contractor to hold a roofing contractor registration certificate issued by the Kansas Attorney General before providing residential or commercial roofing services for a fee. The requirement has applied since 1 July 2013 under the Kansas roofing registration act.
Registration requires liability insurance of at least $500,000, workers’ compensation or an exemption affidavit, and a Kansas tax clearance; there is no examination and no bond. The Attorney General’s regulation sets the fee at $250. The only small-job exemption is for someone whose every roofing project in a year is priced under $2,000, and it is lost by anyone who advertises as a roofer. Working unregistered carries a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation and counts as a deceptive act under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act. The Act has no rule on insurance deductibles and no cancellation right after a claim denial; a 2011 bill that would have added both died in committee.
Check here: Kansas Attorney General roofing registration directory. Kansas is unusual and useful here: the Attorney General publishes a separate Roofer Enforcement Actions index of court cases brought against roofers. Check the registration directory first and the enforcement index second; both are free.
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 Manhattan certified market really is
2 certified roofing contractors serve the principal cities of the Manhattan, KS statistical area, of which 1 hold the top President’s Club tier. The pool carries 123 customer reviews between them at a mean rating of 4.65. The statistical area had a 2024 population of 134,892, a change of 0.63% against the 2020 census base, per the U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2024 estimates.
How these Manhattan rankings were produced
Every contractor in the Manhattan, 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 1 hold President’s Club standing and 0 Master Elite, against a metro mean rating of 4.65. The top two were then researched individually against Better Business Bureau records, state licence registers and manufacturer directories. Good and bad findings are published together, and no contractor paid for a place here.
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: 2026-10-09. Corrections go to the editor and are actioned on verification.
Questions Manhattan homeowners ask
Who is the best roofer in Manhattan, KS?
Superior Roofing & Exteriors of Manhattan, KS scores highest in the Manhattan metro on The Roofing Brief Contractor Score, at 82.1 out of 100 as of October 2026. It holds President’s Club certification with a 4.5 rating across 55 reviews. Highest-scoring is not the same as best fit for your specific job, and the company behind it scores within 23.4 points.
What is the 25% rule for roofing in Kansas?
Kansas has no statewide 25 percent roofing rule because it does not enforce a statewide residential building code; cities and counties adopt their own codes, usually an edition of the International Residential Code. Any reroofing limits, such as tear off rules or layer limits, come from your city or county’s adopted code. Ask your local building department which edition it enforces and whether it has added any reroof rules.
Who does roof repair in Manhattan, KS?
Superior Roofing & Exteriors, the only certified firm based in Manhattan, handles storm and hail repair along with residential and commercial roofing. McGee Roofing of Clay Center covers residential and commercial roofing, flat and built-up roofs and storm work, and names Riley, Geary and Pottawatomie counties in its service area.
Do I need a permit to replace a roof in Manhattan, KS?
Yes. The City of Manhattan enforces the 2021 residential code and does not exempt reroofing from permits. The fee is $56.09 for the first $2,000 plus $11.34 per further $1,000, about $204 on a $15,000 reroof, and starting before the permit can double it.
How do I know if a roofer in Manhattan, KS is good?
Check two credentials: the roofer’s Kansas registration number on the Attorney General’s free registration directory, and its City of Manhattan contractor licence, which requires passing a code exam. Then check the Attorney General’s Roofer Enforcement Actions index of court cases brought against roofers.
How many certified roofing contractors serve Manhattan?
2 contractors on the GAF certification registry serve the principal cities of the Manhattan, KS statistical area as of October 2026, of which 1 hold President’s Club status.
How much damaging hail does Manhattan get?
The Manhattan, KS statistical area recorded 192 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 32 of 2 inches or larger between 2016 and 2025 in the NOAA Storm Events Database. The largest hailstone reported measured 3.5 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 Manhattan in the last ten years?
The largest hailstone logged by the National Weather Service in the Manhattan, KS statistical area between 2016 and 2025 measured 3.5 inches, reported near Manhattan on 13 June 2024. That is baseball sized, comfortably past the point where a roof is written off rather than repaired. Across the decade the metro recorded 213 hail reports. Reported property damage from hail, severe wind and tornado over that decade totalled $10.0 million; flood and winter-storm losses are counted separately and are not included.
When is the worst time of year for roof damage in Manhattan?
Severe-weather reports in the Manhattan, KS statistical area cluster in June, May, April, on the NOAA record for 2016 to 2025. Scheduling discretionary work away from that window tends to get you a better crew and a faster start, because nobody is juggling emergency callouts.
Do roofers need a licence in KS?
Kansas requires every roofing contractor to hold a roofing contractor registration certificate issued by the Kansas Attorney General before providing residential or commercial roofing services for a fee. The requirement has applied since 1 July 2013 under the Kansas roofing registration act. Registration requires liability insurance of at least $500,000, workers’ compensation or an exemption affidavit, and a Kansas tax clearance; there is no examination and no bond. The Attorney General’s regulation sets the fee at $250. The only small-job exemption is for someone whose every roofing project in a year is priced under $2,000, and it is lost by anyone who advertises as a roofer. Working unregistered carries a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation and counts as a deceptive act under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act. The Act has no rule on insurance deductibles and no cancellation right after a claim denial; a 2011 bill that would have added both died in committee.
What should I check before hiring a roofer in Manhattan?
Kansas is unusual and useful here: the Attorney General publishes a separate Roofer Enforcement Actions index of court cases brought against roofers. Check the registration directory first and the enforcement index second; both are free.
Wind did more than hail: the June 2022 downburst and the 2024 softball swath?
On the evening of 11 June 2022 a large high-precipitation supercell crawled south across north-east Kansas for five hours. Its rear-flank downdraft produced straight-line winds above 80 mph across a wide area and, at 7:20 pm, a two-minute EF2 of about 115 mph just east of the Kansas State University campus that tore the roofs off several buildings over a third of a mile.
Is Manhattan a hard market to find a good roofer in?
Manhattan sits in one of the most active hail corridors in Kansas: 213 hail reports in three counties over the decade, 32 of them 2 inches or larger, and in June 2024 softball-size stones fell on the city itself. Yet its costliest roof event was wind, a June 2022 downburst with an EF2 inside it that tore roofs off buildings just east of the K-State campus. A roofer here needs both a state registration and a city licence earned by exam. Only two certified firms appear in the directory for the area, and both are ranked.
Roofer rankings for other metros
The Roofing Brief scores certified roofing contractors in U.S. metropolitan and micropolitan areas on the same formula.
- Best roofers in Topeka, KS, about 50 miles from Manhattan
- Best roofers in Lawrence, KS, about 74 miles from Manhattan
- Best roofers in St. Joseph, MO, about 103 miles from Manhattan
- Best roofers in Kansas City, MO, about 110 miles from Manhattan
- Best roofers in Wichita, KS, another KS metro on the same formula
- Best roofers in Springfield, OH, a metro of comparable size
- Best roofers in Wheeling, WV, a metro of comparable size
- Best roofers in Lincoln, NE, also scored, about 112 miles away
See the full index of 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 Manhattan, KS: 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.