Florida Has 17% of America's Roofers and Still Pays Them Below Average
This is an employment analysis, not a cost guide.
The concentration
Roofing is a smaller trade than most homeowners assume. Nationally there are about 135,000 roofers, which is a seventh of the number of construction labourers and a fifth of the number of electricians.
| State | Roofers employed | Share of national total | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 23,550 | 17.4% | $47,590 |
| California | 21,190 | 15.6% | $63,600 |
| Washington | 5,890 | 4.3% | $60,640 |
| Texas | 5,740 | 4.2% | $46,030 |
| Illinois | 5,300 | 3.9% | $77,900 |
| Ohio | 4,610 | 3.4% | $49,390 |
| New York | 4,570 | 3.4% | $66,020 |
| Pennsylvania | 3,830 | 2.8% | $55,710 |
| … | … | … | … |
| New Hampshire | 270 | 0.2% | $59,830 |
| Delaware | 230 | 0.2% | $59,440 |
| Vermont | 210 | 0.2% | $59,040 |
| District of Columbia | 100 | 0.1% | $61,750 |
Two states hold a third of the trade. Florida alone holds 17%, which is more than four times California's count in per-capita terms once you account for population.
More roofers, lower pay
Florida's median is 14% below the national figure, and Texas is 17% below. Both are high-employment states.
That is the supply story: where a trade is abundant, the price of an hour of it falls. It is also why the cheapest roofing quotes in the country come from places with the most roofers, and why those same places have the shortest waiting lists.
Why the roof still costs money there
Cheap labour does not mean a cheap roof. Material is the larger half of the bill and it does not get cheaper in Florida — in fact hurricane-rated products in the coastal counties cost more.
What Florida has is speed. A crew is available, the permit process is routine and the work happens quickly. That is a real advantage and it is not the same as a low price.
The states at the other end
Vermont, Delaware and the District of Columbia have between 100 and 230 roofers each. In markets that thin, you are not choosing between crews — there may only be two, and both know it.
Frequently asked
Does a shortage of roofers mean higher prices?
Usually, but our data does not support a clean relationship between the count of roofers in a state and the wage there. See the related piece on why the obvious theory does not hold.
Should I book earlier in a low-supply state?
Yes. With a hundred or two hundred roofers in the whole state, scheduling is the binding constraint, not price.
Updated October 2026