Roofing is one of the three most immigrant-dependent skilled trades in America. About 53% of U.S. roofers were foreign-born in 2024, according to a National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) analysis of American Community Survey data published in April 2026, and roughly 32% of roofers were unauthorized immigrants as of 2022, per the Pew Research Center. Both figures sit far above the roughly 19% foreign-born share of the entire U.S. labor force (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023). This report quantifies the immigrant roofing workforce: the foreign-born share of roofers, how it ranks against other trades, the undocumented share, the Hispanic concentration, and where that labor clusters by state.
Headline finding: roofing runs on immigrant labor
The immigrant roofing workforce is not a marginal feature of the trade. It is close to the majority of it. Foreign-born workers made up an estimated 53% of U.S. roofers in 2024 (NAHB analysis of ACS, 2026), placing roofing third among all construction occupations for immigrant reliance. Combine that with a Hispanic or Latino share of roughly 63% to 65% (Data USA/ACS 2024; BLS/CPWR 2023) and roofing stands out as the single most immigration-exposed of the major building trades. For a fuller demographic picture of age, gender, and race, see the companion roofing workforce demographics report.
Two numbers frame the whole report. First, roughly half of the people who install American roofs were born outside the country. Second, close to a third are working without legal authorization (Pew Research Center, 2022). Any national shift in immigration enforcement or visa policy therefore lands on roofing harder than on almost any other trade.
How many roofers are foreign-born?
An estimated 53% of U.S. roofers were foreign-born in 2024, based on NAHB’s analysis of American Community Survey microdata (NAHB, 2026). An earlier NAHB/Eye on Housing analysis of 2022 ACS data put the roofer foreign-born share at 47%. Read together, credible estimates place the immigrant share of roofers in a 47% to 53% band across 2022 to 2024, with the trend pointing up as the overall immigrant share of construction reached a record 26.3% in 2024 (NAHB, 2026).
“Foreign-born” here counts everyone born outside the United States, including naturalized citizens and lawful permanent residents, not only the undocumented. The total roofer base these shares apply to was about 179,500 workers in 2024 (Data USA/ACS), or roughly 166,700 wage-and-salary roofers plus self-employed installers (BLS, 2024).
| Roofer foreign-born share, by data year | Estimate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 ACS analysis | 47% | NAHB / Eye on Housing (2024) |
| 2024 ACS analysis | 53% | NAHB (2026) |
| U.S. labor force (all workers), 2023 | ~19% | U.S. Census Bureau (2023) |
Foreign-born roofers versus other construction trades
Roofing ranks third among construction occupations for immigrant share, behind only drywall installation and plastering. The finishing and exterior trades cluster at the top of the list because they are physically demanding, weather-exposed, and historically filled through immigrant labor networks. Office-adjacent and higher-credential trades sit lower.
| Rank | Construction occupation | Foreign-born share, 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drywall and ceiling tile installers | 57% |
| 2 | Plasterers and stucco masons | 56% |
| 3 | Roofers | 53% |
| 3 (tie) | Painters | 53% |
| 5 | Carpet, floor, and tile installers | 51% |
| 6 | Construction laborers | 43% |
| 7 | Carpenters | 35% |
Source: NAHB analysis of 2024 American Community Survey data (2026). Roofing’s 53% is more than 18 points above carpentry and roughly double the 26.3% immigrant share of the construction industry as a whole (NAHB, 2026).
How many roofers are undocumented?
An estimated 32% of U.S. roofers were unauthorized immigrants as of 2022, according to Pew Research Center’s analysis of augmented American Community Survey data. That is higher than the roughly 29% unauthorized share across all construction and extraction occupations and higher than painters (28%) and construction laborers (24%) in the same Pew analysis. Only drywall installers and tapers (33%) ranked above roofers.
In headcount terms, roughly 75,600 roofers were estimated to be undocumented, per a Center for American Progress analysis reported by Roofing Contractor (2025), which described roofers as the second-largest occupational group of undocumented construction workers after general construction laborers. These figures are model-based estimates and carry uncertainty, but multiple independent analyses converge on roofing as one of the most enforcement-exposed trades in the country.
| Occupation | Unauthorized-immigrant share, 2022 |
|---|---|
| Drywall installers and tapers | 33% |
| Roofers | 32% |
| All construction and extraction occupations | 29% |
| Painters and paperhangers | 28% |
| Construction laborers | 24% |
Source: Pew Research Center analysis of augmented 2022 ACS data. “Unauthorized” is a subset of the foreign-born total, so the 32% undocumented figure sits inside the roughly 53% foreign-born share above.
The Hispanic share of roofers
Roughly 63% to 65% of U.S. roofers identify as Hispanic or Latino, one of the highest concentrations of any construction trade. Data USA’s read of 2024 ACS data puts the Hispanic share at 63%, while BLS and CPWR figures cited for 2023 reach about 65%. By comparison, Hispanic workers make up about 34% of the total construction workforce (CPWR, December 2024), up from 16.5% in 2000.
Country of origin is concentrated in Mexico and Central America. Among Hispanic roofers, an estimated 60% report Mexican origin, about 11% Guatemalan, and roughly 9% Honduran (Data USA/ACS, 2024). The overlap between the Hispanic share (63% to 65%) and the foreign-born share (about 53%) means a meaningful portion of roofers are U.S.-born Hispanic workers, so Hispanic and immigrant are related but not identical labels for this workforce.
Where immigrant roofers concentrate: foreign-born construction workforce by state
Roofer-specific counts are too small to report reliably at the state level, so the foreign-born share of each state’s construction workforce is the best available proxy for where immigrant roofers cluster. Immigrant reliance is highest in high-growth Sun Belt and coastal-gateway states and lowest in rural, northern states. California, Florida, and Texas anchor the top of the list.
| Highest immigrant reliance (construction workforce, 2024) | Foreign-born share |
|---|---|
| California | 42.1% |
| Florida | 40.6% |
| Texas | 39.0% |
| Nevada | 38.6% |
| New York | 37.1% |
| Maryland | 37.0% |
| Lowest immigrant reliance (construction workforce, 2024) | Foreign-born share |
|---|---|
| Vermont | 1.4% |
| West Virginia | 2.6% |
| Alaska | 3.2% |
| Montana | 4.3% |
| New Hampshire | 4.6% |
Source: NAHB analysis of 2024 ACS construction-workforce data (2026). The gap between California (42.1%) and Vermont (1.4%) is roughly 30 to 1, which means the labor exposure described in this report is regionally concentrated rather than evenly spread.
Why roofing depends on immigrant labor
Roofing’s immigrant reliance tracks three structural features of the trade: hard physical conditions, a thin domestic hiring pipeline, and high injury risk. Roofers carry the highest fatal-injury rate of any construction occupation, about 57.5 deaths per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers (CPWR, 2024), driven mainly by falls. Jobs that are dangerous and weather-exposed have historically filled through immigrant labor networks.
The pipeline is also tight. The trade needs to fill about 12,700 roofer openings a year through 2034 (BLS projections), many from retirements and turnover rather than growth, and domestic apprenticeship intake covers only part of that need (see The Roofing Brief’s roofing apprenticeship and training report). When native-born entry is limited and demand is steady, foreign-born labor closes the gap, which is why the immigrant share has risen toward the majority.
What immigration policy shifts could mean for roofing
Because roofing sits near the top of both the foreign-born and unauthorized-worker rankings, changes to immigration enforcement or work-visa policy may affect roofing labor availability more than most trades. If a meaningful share of the estimated 75,600 undocumented roofers (Center for American Progress, via Roofing Contractor 2025) were removed from the workforce, contractors in high-reliance states such as California, Florida, and Texas could face the sharpest crew shortages and the largest upward pressure on labor costs.
The direction and size of any effect depend on federal policy, state economies, and how quickly domestic hiring and visa programs such as H-2B respond, so specific outcomes cannot be assured. What the data supports is a conditional statement: roofing’s unusually high immigrant and unauthorized shares make it structurally more sensitive to immigration policy than lower-reliance trades like carpentry. Contractors weighing this exposure can review The Roofing Brief’s roofing labor and wage report for the H-2B visa and wage context.
Methodology
This report synthesizes published estimates from primary and analytical sources rather than generating new microdata. Occupation-level foreign-born and Hispanic shares come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS), as analyzed by the National Association of Home Builders (2024 data, published 2026) and Data USA (2024). Unauthorized-immigrant shares come from Pew Research Center’s augmented 2022 ACS estimates. Construction-wide labor and fatality context comes from CPWR (The Center for Construction Research and Training) and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. State figures reflect the foreign-born share of each state’s construction workforce, used as a proxy for roofer concentration. Every statistic is attributed inline to a named source and year.
Limitations
Three limits apply. First, roofer-specific foreign-born counts at the state level are not reported here because ACS sample sizes for a single occupation within one state produce wide margins of error, so state figures describe the broader construction workforce. Second, estimates of the undocumented share (Pew, Center for American Progress) are model-based and carry meaningful uncertainty. Third, source estimates use slightly different definitions, survey years, and occupation groupings, which is why the roofer foreign-born share appears as a 47% to 53% range rather than a single point. Figures should be read as best-available approximations, not exact counts.
Frequently asked questions
What share of roofers in the U.S. are immigrants?
About 53% of U.S. roofers were foreign-born in 2024, according to a National Association of Home Builders analysis of American Community Survey data. That ranks roofing third among all construction occupations for immigrant reliance, behind drywall installers and plasterers, and roughly double the 26.3% immigrant share of the construction industry overall.
How many roofers are undocumented?
Roughly 32% of U.S. roofers were unauthorized immigrants as of 2022, per Pew Research Center’s analysis of augmented ACS data. In headcount terms, a Center for American Progress estimate puts the number of undocumented roofers at about 75,600, the second-largest group of undocumented construction workers after general laborers.
What percentage of roofers are Hispanic?
Roughly 63% to 65% of U.S. roofers identify as Hispanic or Latino, among the highest of any construction trade. Data USA’s read of 2024 ACS data shows 63%, with about 60% of Hispanic roofers reporting Mexican origin, 11% Guatemalan, and 9% Honduran.
Which states rely most on immigrant construction labor?
California leads at a 42.1% foreign-born share of its construction workforce in 2024, followed by Florida (40.6%), Texas (39.0%), Nevada (38.6%), New York (37.1%), and Maryland (37.0%), per NAHB. The lowest are Vermont (1.4%), West Virginia (2.6%), and Alaska (3.2%).
Is the immigrant share of roofers rising?
It appears to be. NAHB analyses put the roofer foreign-born share at about 47% using 2022 ACS data and about 53% using 2024 data, while the immigrant share of the whole construction workforce reached a record 26.3% in 2024. Definitions vary by source, so these should be read as a rising range rather than exact year-over-year change.
Why does roofing depend so heavily on immigrant workers?
Roofing is physically hard, weather-exposed, and carries the highest fatal-injury rate of any construction trade at about 57.5 per 100,000 full-time workers (CPWR). With roughly 12,700 openings a year to fill and limited domestic apprenticeship intake, foreign-born labor has closed much of the gap, pushing the immigrant share toward the majority.
Reviewed by The Roofing Brief Team. Last reviewed July 2026.