This report ranks roofer pay in every U.S. state and the District of Columbia using median wage data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program, May 2025 release. It is a wage report. For where roofers are most concentrated by headcount and population, see our companion Roofers Per Capita by State density study, which answers a different question.
The headline gap is large. A roofer at the median in Illinois earns $77,900 a year. A roofer at the median in Oklahoma earns $43,680. That is a difference of $34,220, or 78 percent, for the same occupation code. This report documents that spread state by state, adjusts it for cost of living, and cross-checks it against roofing demand.
Executive summary
- The national median wage for roofers was $55,440 per year, or $26.65 per hour, in the BLS OEWS May 2025 release.
- Illinois had the highest state median roofer wage at $77,900, followed by New Jersey ($76,600) and Minnesota ($74,490).
- Oklahoma had the lowest state median at $43,680, below Mississippi ($44,940) and New Mexico ($45,300).
- The highest-paying state median was 78 percent above the lowest, a $34,220 nominal gap.
- Twenty-four jurisdictions paid a median at or above the national median of $55,440. Twenty-seven paid below it.
- Eight of the ten lowest-paying states sit in the South or Southwest. Six of the ten highest-paying jurisdictions are in the Northeast.
- Florida ($47,590) and Texas ($46,030), two of the highest storm-demand roofing markets, both paid roofers below the national median.
- After adjusting for state cost of living, Illinois and Minnesota remain the strongest markets for roofer purchasing power, and the top-to-bottom gap narrows from 78 percent to about 63 percent (Roofing Brief calculation).
Key findings
Each finding below states a number, a timeframe, a geography, and a source. Unless noted, the source is the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release (published May 15, 2026), as republished by O*NET OnLine, the U.S. Department of Labor occupational database, for occupation code 47-2181 Roofers.
- The U.S. median roofer wage was $55,440 per year in May 2025. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine.
- The U.S. median roofer wage was $26.65 per hour in May 2025. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- The 10th percentile roofer earned $37,460 per year and the 90th percentile earned $81,720 nationally in May 2025, a 2.2 to 1 ratio. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Illinois had the highest state median roofer wage in the nation at $77,900 per year in May 2025. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- New Jersey ranked second at $76,600 and Minnesota third at $74,490 per year in May 2025. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Massachusetts ranked fourth at $72,750 per year in May 2025. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Oklahoma had the lowest state median at $43,680 per year in May 2025. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Mississippi ($44,940) and New Mexico ($45,300) were the second and third lowest states in May 2025. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- The nominal gap between the highest state median (Illinois) and the lowest (Oklahoma) was $34,220, or 78 percent, in May 2025. Roofing Brief calculation using BLS OEWS May 2025 state medians.
- Twenty-four of 51 jurisdictions paid a median roofer wage at or above the national median of $55,440 in May 2025. Roofing Brief calculation using BLS OEWS May 2025 state medians.
- The Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro posted an $82,090 median and Trenton-Princeton, New Jersey $82,100, among the highest large-metro medians in May 2025. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Florida ($47,590) and Texas ($46,030) both paid below the national median in May 2025, despite ranking among the highest storm and hail exposure roofing markets. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- In Illinois the 90th percentile roofer earned $106,530 versus a 10th percentile of $46,600 in May 2025, a spread of $59,930. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Massachusetts roofers at the 90th percentile earned $106,290 per year in May 2025. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- BLS projects roofer employment to grow faster than the average for all occupations, with about 12,700 job openings per year over the 2024 to 2034 decade. Source: BLS Employment Projections via O*NET OnLine.
National wage benchmark
The BLS OEWS survey is the standard reference for occupational pay in the United States. It is an establishment survey, meaning it collects wages that employers pay to wage-and-salary workers. It excludes self-employed and owner-operator roofers, who are common in the trade. For May 2025, the national roofer numbers were:
| Measure | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $18.01 | $37,460 |
| Median (50th percentile) | $26.65 | $55,440 |
| 90th percentile | $39.29 | $81,720 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, occupation 47-2181 Roofers, via O*NET OnLine. Annual figures assume year-round full-time work of 2,080 hours and can understate seasonal roofing incomes or overstate them where weather cuts hours.
Roofer wages by state, ranked
The table below ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia by median annual roofer wage. It is sorted highest to lowest. The national median of $55,440 falls between Pennsylvania and Colorado on this list.
| Rank | State | Median hourly | Median annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Illinois | $37.45 | $77,900 |
| 2 | New Jersey | $36.83 | $76,600 |
| 3 | Minnesota | $35.81 | $74,490 |
| 4 | Massachusetts | $34.98 | $72,750 |
| 5 | Alaska | $32.09 | $66,750 |
| 6 | New York | $31.74 | $66,020 |
| 7 | California | $30.58 | $63,600 |
| 8 | Connecticut | $29.84 | $62,070 |
| 9 | District of Columbia | $29.69 | $61,750 |
| 10 | Rhode Island | $29.63 | $61,630 |
| 11 | Washington | $29.16 | $60,640 |
| 12 | Maryland | $28.89 | $60,090 |
| 13 | New Hampshire | $28.76 | $59,830 |
| 14 | North Dakota | $28.72 | $59,740 |
| 15 | Hawaii | $28.64 | $59,580 |
| 16 | Michigan | $28.62 | $59,530 |
| 17 | Delaware | $28.58 | $59,440 |
| 18 | Wisconsin | $28.54 | $59,370 |
| 19 | Vermont | $28.39 | $59,040 |
| 20 | Montana | $28.38 | $59,030 |
| 21 | Oregon | $28.35 | $58,970 |
| 22 | Indiana | $27.88 | $57,980 |
| 23 | Idaho | $27.78 | $57,790 |
| 24 | Pennsylvania | $26.79 | $55,710 |
| 25 | Colorado | $24.88 | $51,750 |
| 26 | West Virginia | $24.60 | $51,170 |
| 27 | Nevada | $24.56 | $51,090 |
| 28 | Maine | $24.10 | $50,120 |
| 29 | Ohio | $23.74 | $49,390 |
| 30 | North Carolina | $23.56 | $49,010 |
| 31 | Louisiana | $23.44 | $48,760 |
| 32 | Utah | $23.40 | $48,680 |
| 33 | Iowa | $23.39 | $48,660 |
| 34 | Missouri | $23.35 | $48,570 |
| 35 | Virginia | $23.28 | $48,420 |
| 36 | South Dakota | $22.94 | $47,710 |
| 37 | Florida | $22.88 | $47,590 |
| 38 | Arkansas | $22.82 | $47,470 |
| 39 | Arizona | $22.76 | $47,340 |
| 40 | Kansas | $22.69 | $47,190 |
| 41 | Georgia | $22.57 | $46,940 |
| 41 | Kentucky | $22.57 | $46,940 |
| 43 | Nebraska | $22.34 | $46,460 |
| 44 | Texas | $22.13 | $46,030 |
| 45 | South Carolina | $22.00 | $45,760 |
| 46 | Tennessee | $21.97 | $45,690 |
| 47 | Alabama | $21.96 | $45,670 |
| 48 | Wyoming | $21.95 | $45,650 |
| 49 | New Mexico | $21.78 | $45,300 |
| 50 | Mississippi | $21.61 | $44,940 |
| 51 | Oklahoma | $21.00 | $43,680 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, occupation 47-2181, via O*NET OnLine. Georgia and Kentucky tie at $46,940 and share rank 41.
Highest-paying states
The top of the table is concentrated in three regions: the Northeast, the Upper Midwest, and the Pacific and Mountain West. Six of the top ten jurisdictions (New Jersey, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, and Rhode Island) are in the Northeast corridor. Illinois and Minnesota anchor the Upper Midwest at the very top. These are markets with higher construction union density and, in several cases, prevailing-wage rules on public work, both of which tend to lift the median.
The state 90th percentile shows how high roofer pay can reach in these markets. In Illinois the 90th percentile roofer earned $106,530 per year. In Massachusetts the figure was $106,290. In New Jersey it was $103,720. Those ceilings, all above $100,000, do not appear anywhere in the lowest-paying tier, where 90th percentile figures cluster near $60,000 to $63,000 (for example, Mississippi at $62,830 and Alabama at $60,920). Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Lowest-paying states
The bottom of the table is concentrated in the South and Southwest. Eight of the ten lowest-paying states (Oklahoma, Mississippi, New Mexico, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Texas, and Kentucky) are in the South or Southwest. Wyoming and Nebraska round out the bottom ten from the Plains and Mountain regions. Oklahoma at $43,680 and Mississippi at $44,940 are the only states with a median roofer wage below $45,000. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
These states share lower construction unionization, lower general wage floors, and lower housing costs. The cost-of-living section below shows that part, but not all, of the wage gap disappears once local prices are taken into account.
Metro area wages
Metro medians can run above or below their state figure. The highest large-metro medians we recorded were Chicago-Naperville-Elgin at $82,090 and Trenton-Princeton, New Jersey at $82,100. Other high metros included Atlantic City, New Jersey ($77,990), San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California ($76,650), Peoria, Illinois ($76,610), the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro ($76,400), Springfield, Massachusetts ($76,300), and Minneapolis-St. Paul ($75,400). Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
| Metro area | Median annual |
|---|---|
| Trenton-Princeton, NJ | $82,100 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN | $82,090 |
| Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ | $77,990 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $76,650 |
| Peoria, IL | $76,610 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $76,400 |
| Springfield, MA | $76,300 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN | $75,400 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $74,340 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $64,090 |
| Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO | $55,830 |
| Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV | $49,800 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA | $49,100 |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL | $48,030 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | $47,760 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $46,990 |
| Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX | $45,500 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine. One small New England metro, Worcester, Massachusetts, reported a median of $105,270, far above its state and neighbors. Small-area OEWS estimates carry wider sampling error, so we flag that figure as an outlier rather than a reliable metro benchmark.
Metros often pay a premium over the surrounding state. The New York-Newark-Jersey City metro median of $76,400 sits 16 percent above the New York state median of $66,020, reflecting the higher cost and union presence of the city core.
Original synthesis
The following are Roofing Brief calculations that combine public datasets. Each states its inputs, formula, and limitations. These are derived analyses, not published BLS statistics.
1. Cost-of-living adjusted roofer pay
Nominal wages overstate how far a paycheck goes in expensive states and understate it in cheap ones. We divided each state median roofer wage (BLS OEWS, May 2025) by that state All Items Regional Price Parity (BEA, 2023, national level equals 100) to express pay in national-average purchasing power. Formula: real median equals nominal median divided by (RPP divided by 100).
| State | Nominal median | RPP 2023 | Cost-adjusted median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | $77,900 | 98.9 | $78,770 |
| Minnesota | $74,490 | 98.4 | $75,700 |
| New Jersey | $76,600 | 108.9 | $70,340 |
| Massachusetts | $72,750 | 104.0 | $69,950 |
| California | $63,600 | 112.6 | $56,480 |
| Mississippi | $44,940 | 87.3 | $51,480 |
| Oklahoma | $43,680 | 90.4 | $48,320 |
Illinois and Minnesota keep their lead because they combine high nominal pay with near-average living costs. New Jersey, Massachusetts, and California fall once their high price levels are netted out. Low-nominal states such as Mississippi and Oklahoma gain ground but remain at the bottom. The top-to-bottom real gap narrows from 78 percent nominal (Illinois versus Oklahoma) to about 63 percent after the cost adjustment ($78,770 versus $48,320). Inputs: BLS OEWS May 2025 medians; BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023. Limitations: OEWS wage year (2025) and RPP year (2023) do not match exactly, and statewide RPP masks large within-state differences between metros and rural areas.
2. The storm-demand pay paradox
The states with the heaviest roofing demand do not pay the most. Florida and Texas are two of the highest hail and wind loss roofing markets in the country, yet Florida roofers had a median of $47,590 and Texas roofers $46,030 in May 2025, both below the $55,440 national median. Florida sat 14 percent below the national median and Texas 17 percent below. High volume and storm-driven insurance work in those states has not translated into top wages, likely because of abundant labor supply, a large self-employed and storm-chaser contractor base outside the OEWS wage-and-salary sample, and competitive bidding. Inputs: BLS OEWS May 2025 medians; storm-market context in our companion reports. Limitation: OEWS excludes self-employed roofers, who are numerous in high-volume storm markets, so employer-paid medians may not capture total roofing incomes there. For where the roofers actually are, see our Roofers Per Capita by State study.
3. Where the six-figure roofing jobs are
A six-figure roofer wage exists, but only in specific markets. Using the state 90th percentile, the states where the top 10 percent of roofers earned at least $100,000 in May 2025 were Illinois ($106,530), Massachusetts ($106,290), New Jersey ($103,720), Washington ($104,000), and Minnesota (near $99,170, just under the threshold). Every one of these is a high-union, high-cost northern market. In the lowest-paying tier, the 90th percentile did not clear $70,000 (for example, West Virginia at $69,820 and Mississippi at $62,830). Inputs: BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile wages by state. Limitation: percentile wages are point estimates with sampling error, wider in small states.
Charts worth building
- Choropleth map of state median roofer wage, May 2025. Data: the ranking table above. Source: BLS OEWS. Insight: the northern-tier wage premium. Citation-worthy because it visualizes a clean 78 percent spread.
- Scatter plot of nominal versus cost-adjusted state median. Data: synthesis table 1. Source: BLS OEWS and BEA RPP. Insight: which states offer the best real pay.
- Bar chart of median roofer wage versus roofing demand rank for Florida, Texas, and California. Data: synthesis table 2. Insight: the demand-pay paradox.
Most quotable statistics
- The median U.S. roofer earned $55,440 in 2025, or $26.65 an hour. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Illinois roofers earn 78 percent more at the median than Oklahoma roofers, $77,900 versus $43,680. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Only two states pay roofers a median under $45,000: Oklahoma and Mississippi. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Florida and Texas, two of the biggest storm-repair markets, both pay roofers below the national median. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- The top 10 percent of roofers in Illinois earn over $106,000 a year. Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Data limitations
- OEWS is an establishment survey of wage-and-salary workers. It excludes self-employed and owner-operator roofers, who are common in the trade, so it does not capture total roofing income.
- Annual figures assume 2,080 paid hours. Roofing is weather-dependent and seasonal in many states, which can push actual annual earnings below the implied annual wage.
- Medians are more robust than means for a skewed trade, so this report uses medians throughout. A separately reported mean would be higher than the median in most states.
- A household survey, the American Community Survey, produces different state rankings than OEWS because it includes self-employed workers and relies on self-reported income. Users comparing sources should not mix OEWS and ACS figures.
- Small-state and small-metro estimates carry wider sampling error.
- Direct access to the BLS OEWS web tables returned an HTTP 403 error during data collection, so all figures were drawn from O*NET OnLine, the U.S. Department of Labor database that republishes the same BLS OEWS estimates.
Downloadable dataset, recommended fields
A clean dataset for this topic should include: state or metro name; FIPS or area code; SOC code (47-2181); reference period (May 2025); employment estimate; median hourly wage; median annual wage; 10th, 25th, 75th, and 90th percentile wages; mean wage; state Regional Price Parity; and cost-adjusted median. Source column should record BLS OEWS and BEA.
Press summary
New analysis of federal wage data shows roofer pay varies widely by state. Using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program for May 2025, The Roofing Brief ranked median roofer wages in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The national median was $55,440 per year, or $26.65 per hour. Illinois led at $77,900, followed by New Jersey ($76,600) and Minnesota ($74,490). Oklahoma was lowest at $43,680, with Mississippi just above at $44,940. The highest state median was 78 percent above the lowest. The best-paying states cluster in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, while the lowest cluster in the South and Southwest. Notably, Florida and Texas, two of the heaviest storm-repair markets, both paid roofers below the national median. After adjusting for state cost of living, Illinois and Minnesota remain the strongest markets for roofer purchasing power.
Suggested headlines
- Roofers Earn 78 Percent More in Illinois Than Oklahoma, Federal Data Shows
- The Best and Worst States to Be a Roofer in 2026, by the Numbers
- Why the Biggest Roofing Markets Pay Their Roofers the Least
- Where Roofers Break Six Figures: The 2025 Wage Map
- Roofer Pay by State: The Full 50-State Ranking
Source quality ranking
- Tier 1, primary government data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, occupation 47-2181; U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2023; BLS Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
- Tier 1 mirror: O*NET OnLine, the U.S. Department of Labor occupational database, which republishes BLS OEWS wage estimates and was the access path for the state and metro figures in this report.
- Excluded: unsourced salary-aggregator pages, self-reported job-board averages, and any figure that could not be traced to BLS or BEA.
Methodology
Scope: median wages for Roofers (Standard Occupational Classification 47-2181) across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Primary source: BLS OEWS, May 2025 release (published May 15, 2026). Because the BLS OEWS web tables returned an HTTP 403 error during collection, all state and metro figures were retrieved from O*NET OnLine, which republishes the BLS OEWS estimates and labels them 2025 wage data. Each state figure was pulled individually. Cost-of-living adjustment used BEA Regional Price Parities for 2023, the most recent available at collection, applied with the formula real median equals nominal median divided by (RPP divided by 100). Conflict handling: where a secondary source reported a mean or an employment count that conflicted with the OEWS median dataset, we excluded the conflicting figure and reported medians only, to keep the analysis internally consistent. We report medians rather than means because roofing wages are right-skewed. Inclusion rule: a figure appears only if it traces to BLS, BEA, or the O*NET republication of BLS. Derived numbers are labeled as Roofing Brief calculations. Last updated: July 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average roofer salary by state?
State median roofer wages ranged from $77,900 in Illinois to $43,680 in Oklahoma in the BLS OEWS May 2025 release. The national median was $55,440 per year.
Which state pays roofers the most?
Illinois had the highest state median roofer wage at $77,900 per year in May 2025, followed by New Jersey ($76,600) and Minnesota ($74,490). Source: BLS OEWS.
Which state pays roofers the least?
Oklahoma had the lowest state median at $43,680 per year in May 2025, followed by Mississippi ($44,940) and New Mexico ($45,300). Source: BLS OEWS.
What is the average hourly wage for a roofer?
The national median hourly wage for roofers was $26.65 in May 2025, according to BLS OEWS. Hourly medians ranged from about $21.00 in Oklahoma to $37.45 in Illinois.
How much do the highest-paid roofers earn?
Nationally, the 90th percentile roofer earned $81,720 per year in May 2025. In Illinois, Massachusetts, and Washington the state 90th percentile exceeded $104,000. Source: BLS OEWS.
Do roofers make six figures?
The top 10 percent of roofers can. In Illinois the 90th percentile was $106,530 and in Massachusetts $106,290 in May 2025. Six-figure roofer wages are concentrated in high-union, high-cost northern markets. Source: BLS OEWS.
Why do Florida and Texas pay roofers less despite heavy demand?
Both paid below the national median in May 2025, Florida at $47,590 and Texas at $46,030. High labor supply, a large self-employed and storm-chaser contractor base outside the wage-and-salary survey, and competitive bidding hold down employer-paid medians in high-volume storm markets. Source: BLS OEWS.
Does the roofer wage data include self-employed roofers?
No. The BLS OEWS survey covers wage-and-salary workers only. Self-employed and owner-operator roofers are excluded, so total roofing incomes can be higher than the survey shows, especially in states with many independent contractors.
How does cost of living change the roofer pay ranking?
After dividing state medians by BEA Regional Price Parities, Illinois and Minnesota remain the strongest markets for purchasing power, while high-cost states like New Jersey and California move down. The top-to-bottom gap narrows from 78 percent to about 63 percent. This is a Roofing Brief calculation using BLS OEWS 2025 wages and BEA 2023 price parities.
What year is this roofer wage data from?
The wage figures are from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics May 2025 release, published May 15, 2026. Cost-of-living figures are BEA Regional Price Parities for 2023.
For a plain-language guide to roofer pay and how it rises with experience, see How Much Do Roofers Make. For where roofer jobs are growing, see Roofer Employment Projections by State. To compare roofing pay against other skilled trades, see Roofing vs the Other Skilled Trades. For how unpaid wages affect real take-home pay, see our Wage Theft in Roofing report.
Reviewed by The Roofing Brief Team. Last reviewed July 2026.