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Roofing Labor Cost Calculator

6run 12pitch 6/12 · slope factor 1.118
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1,341.64 sq ft of roof

13.42 squares (roof area 1341.64 sf = footprint × 1.12 slope factor); 1475.8 sf with 10% waste.

Typical crew rate for this trade: $37-$61/hr (modeled from BLS median wage × published burden/markup band). How we model costs.

  • Sloped area = footprint × √(1+(rise/12)²) = 1200 × 1.12. Pure geometry: include eave/rake overhangs in your footprint or this understates.
  • Waste: 10% for simple gable (JLC convention). Waste is a range by design; cut-up roofs can exceed 15%.
  • Footprint estimation fails on complex plans (dormers, turrets, intersecting gables); measure each roof plane there instead.
  • A 4/12-vs-8/12 pitch mistake is a 14% area error: verify pitch, don't guess it.

Want quotes from local pros for this project? We’re gauging demand for a pro-matching service. No contractor network exists yet: this is a get-notified list, not a quote request.

Why This One Is Different

Get quotes from two roofing crews for the same job and the labor line can differ by hundreds of dollars before either one is padding their margin, because roofing carries one of the highest workers'-comp classifications in construction. Insurance premiums run roughly 15-40% of payroll for the roofing class code, against 2-5% for office work, and that single line item can move a quoted labor rate more than the base wage does. This calculator doesn't collapse that into a flat dollars-per-square number. It models your labor cost as a chain: a published wage, burdened by statutory payroll adders and that roofing-specific comp rate, then marked up to a charged rate, with every step of the chain visible and the full assumptions documented at /methodology/ rather than folded into one opaque total.

Where the Numbers Come From

  • Workers' comp for roofing (class code 5551) can run roughly 15-40% of payroll versus ~2-5% for office work, per $100 of payroll and by state EMR: a much bigger driver of quoted labor cost than the base wage alone. Source: NCCI class-code mechanism + roofing 5551 ranges (secondary coverage, verify against your state's rate)
  • Full burden stacks statutory adders (FICA 7.65%, FUTA/SUTA) on top of workers' comp, GL insurance, and benefits, landing near 1.2-1.4× wage for open shop and up to ~1.7× for union or high-comp trades. Source: IRS Topic 751; BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (see /methodology/)
  • The publicly available wage figure (BLS OEWS) is straight-time gross pay only (no overtime, no bonuses, no benefits included), so it understates the true cost of an hour of labor by design, not by error. Source: BLS OEWS FAQ / methodology
  • Worked example: an $X/hr published wage × 1.3 burden × 1.8 markup produces the charged rate a crew-hour is billed at: swap in your state's actual comp rate and the output shifts accordingly; there's no single correct constant. Source: worked example, closed-form arithmetic

More Questions

Is workers' comp included in a roofing labor quote?

It should be: it's a real, often large cost of employing a crew, not overhead padding. This calculator includes it explicitly in the burden step rather than hiding it inside an unexplained markup.

Related Calculators

Formulas, waste factors, and cost models on this page follow the sourced conventions on our methodology page. Estimates only; verify with your supplier and local code.