Metal Roofing Price Calculator
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
If you've seen a flat “metal roofing costs $X per square” figure online and wondered whether it applies to your job, it doesn't, not really: that number is an average with its assumptions stripped out, like which state, which crew size, union or open shop, panel profile. This calculator doesn't reproduce that number. It starts from the same panel-area takeoff every metal roofing quantity page uses, then builds the labor side as a modeled band: a published roofer wage, run through the statutory and insurance adders every legitimate employer carries, then a markup range to a charged rate, not a single dollar figure pulled from nowhere. The chain is shown, not hidden, and the full assumptions live at /methodology/.
Where the Numbers Come From
- What you pay a crew stacks up from several pieces beyond the wage itself: burdened labor cost = wage + statutory adders (employer FICA 7.65%, FUTA, SUTA) + workers' comp (roofing runs notably high per $100 of payroll vs office work) + GL insurance + benefits, landing around 1.2-1.4× open-shop wage, up to ~1.7× for union/high-comp trades. Source: IRS Topic 751; BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation; Payroll4Construction burden-multiplier practice (see /methodology/)
- The markup on top of burdened wage isn't a fixed multiplier picked out of thin air: charged rate = burdened wage × a markup to hit target margin, and NAHB-measured builder/remodeler gross margins run roughly 20-30%, a very different number from “50% markup.” Source: NAHB Cost of Doing Business studies via Eye On Housing (see /methodology/)
- The wage figure behind this calculator is the floor of the cost stack, not what you'd be charged: published wage data (BLS OEWS) is straight-time gross pay only, excluding overtime, shift differentials, bonuses, and all benefits, so it's never the number a contractor actually charges. Source: BLS OEWS FAQ / methodology
- The area side of this calculator isn't a guess either: panel area still comes from footprint × slope factor exactly as on the metal roofing quantity page, with the labor-cost chain added on top rather than replacing the geometry with a guess. Source: worked example, closed-form geometry
More Questions
Why isn't there just one price per square?
Because the real inputs (local wage, insurance class-code rate, union status, and target margin) genuinely vary by 2-3x across regions and companies. A single flat number would be false precision; the band shows the range honestly.
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.