New roof cost and what insurance pays

A new roof is one of the few repairs that changes your home insurance as well as your bank balance. Insurers price an old roof as a claim waiting to happen, some pay less for it after a storm, and in Florida an old roof brings its own inspection rules. The calculator above prices the job from a national cost report, then shows what a covered storm claim would pay toward it under the two common ways a policy settles a roof.

How the price is worked out

The starting point is Cost vs. Value 2025, a study by Remodeling magazine and Zonda that which prices the same job in every region every year: tear the old roof down to the wood deck, haul it away, and lay 30 squares of new roofing on a hip roof with two skylights. A square is 100 square feet of roof surface, so 30 squares is a 3,000 sq ft roof. The calculator divides the regional price by 30 and multiplies by the size of your roof.

Your roof's size comes from two things you can measure without a ladder: the area under the roof seen from above (the footprint of the house, garage and porch, plus the overhang at the edges) and the slope. The slope adds surface: a roof that rises 6 inches for every 12 across has 11.8% more surface than its footprint, a 12-in-12 roof 41.4% more. A 2,000 sq ft footprint under a 6-in-12 roof works out to 2,236 sq ft, or 22.4 squares.

If a roofer has already measured it, the Whole sum mode lets you type the squares from the quote instead.

Prices by region in the 2025 report

For the 2,000 sq ft, 6-in-12 example, that comes to about $20,210 in shingles in Texas, $27,730 in New York and $23,760 at the US average. In metal, the Texas figure is about $33,170.

Why other guides quote much less

Search for roof prices and you'll also see averages under $10,000. NerdWallet, using Angi's figures, puts the average replacement at $9,500 and the usual range at $4 to $11 per square foot of roof. Both sets of numbers are real; they measure different jobs.

The cost report prices a full-specification job: complete tear-off, new underlayment, metal drip edge and flashing, a vented ridge and two skylights to flash around. NerdWallet doesn't say what job Angi's average describes, but at $9,500 it must take in far smaller or simpler roofs than the report's 3,000 sq ft. The calculator shows both: the report figure as the main estimate, and the $4 to $11 range for the same area underneath it. A plain roof with no skylights, chimneys or valleys usually lands nearer the range. A steep, cut-up roof lands nearer the report. NerdWallet adds that a steep slope alone can add $1,000 to $3,000.

Other materials aren't in the cost report. Angi's material prices, also quoted by NerdWallet, run from $5 to $12 a square foot for synthetic roofing, $6 to $15 for wood shingles, $6 to $16 for metal shingles, $10 to $20 for clay or concrete tile and $10 to $30 for slate. Those are material prices, and labor comes on top.

What insurance pays when a storm ruins the roof

Home insurance pays for a roof damaged by a covered event, such as wind, hail or a fallen tree. It doesn't pay to replace a roof that has simply worn out. When the damage is covered, how much you get depends on how the policy settles the roof.

• Replacement cost pays what it costs to put on a new roof, minus your deductible. Insurers often pay in two parts: one when the claim is settled and the rest once the work starts or is finished.
• Actual cash value first takes off depreciation for the roof's age, then the deductible. On an older roof the difference is large.

The Texas Department of Insurance shows it with a $10,000 roof and a $4,000 deductible. A replacement-cost policy pays $6,000 whatever the roof's age. An actual-cash-value policy pays $4,500 on a 5-year-old roof, $3,000 at 10 years and nothing at 20 years, because by then the roof is valued at $4,000, no more than the deductible. The example works out to 3% off for each year of age, and the calculator uses the same rate unless you change it. Your insurer's own depreciation schedule may differ. Read the declarations page and any roof endorsement to see how your roof would be settled.

Two more things shrink a roof payout in storm-prone states. Wind and hail deductibles are often a percentage of the dwelling limit rather than a flat amount: 2% of $350,000 is $7,000. And in Florida a policy can carry a separate roof deductible with a legal cap and a list of losses it can't touch. The deductibles page and the roof and four-point rules cover both.

How a new roof can change your premium

A newer roof lowers the risk an insurer prices in. The clearest effect shows in the estimator on the home page: a recently built house costs much less to insure than an older one with the same coverage. Insurers ask the roof's age when you apply, and an old roof can mean a higher price, a roof settled at actual cash value, or a refusal; Florida limits that last step by statute, as the roof and four-point page explains.

Materials matter too. The Texas Department of Insurance tells homeowners that roofs less likely to be damaged by wind, hail or fire might earn a discount. In Florida, roof shape, roof-to-wall connections and a secondary water barrier are part of the wind mitigation inspection that can cut the hurricane part of the premium.

Ask your insurer for a fresh quote once the roof is finished, with the permit and the invoice to hand. The saving won't come by itself at renewal.

Before you sign a roofing contract

• Get at least two written quotes that give the roof size in squares, so you can compare like with like and check the size against the calculator.
• Check that the quote includes tear-off and disposal, underlayment, flashing and the permit. Missing items are where cheap quotes catch up.
• If it's an insurance job, have the roofer and the adjuster agree the scope in writing before work starts. Turn down anyone offering to "cover" your deductible. In Texas it's illegal for a contractor to waive it or rebate it, and the state insurance department warns it can bring a fine or jail. Other states have their own rules.
• Keep the permit, the invoice and photos. They prove the roof's age the next time an insurer asks.

The cost report also tracks resale value. Nationally, a new asphalt roof recovers about 67.5% of its cost when the house sells and a metal roof about 50.1%, from 54.2% (asphalt, West North Central) to 81% (asphalt, East South Central) by region. The Whole sum mode of the calculator applies your region's share to your job.