How to Become a Roofer: Certification, Licensing & Pay
Roofers install, repair, and replace the roofs that protect homes, businesses, and industrial buildings from the elements, working with materials from asphalt shingles to metal, tile, and single-ply membranes. Most roofers learn the trade on the job rather than through a degree program, though formal apprenticeships exist.
Apprenticeship Path
Many roofers start as helpers and pick up skills in installation techniques, materials, and safety from experienced crew members on the job. Others enter through a registered apprenticeship — often run through a union or the National Roofing Contractors Association's training programs — that runs 3 to 5 years and combines paid work with related classroom instruction. Given the fall risk involved, OSHA construction safety training (typically the 10-hour or 30-hour course) is commonly required before or shortly after hire.
Certification & Licensing
Most states require a license to run a roofing business, though a handful don't require one at all, and the rules for an individual worker versus the contracting business vary by state and sometimes by city or county.
Licensing requirements vary a lot by state and locality, and a few states don't require one at all — verify current rules with your state's contractor licensing board before you rely on them.
Roofer Pay
The median roofer in the US earned $55,440 per year as of May 2025 — the middle 80% earned between $37,460 and $81,720.
Pay varies a lot by location. See the highest-paying states and highest-paying cities for roofers, both ranked from BLS OEWS data.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), Roofers (SOC 47-2181), May 2025.
OEWS is published once a year, not continuously — "May 2025" is BLS's label for that annual release, not a live figure. See methodology.
Job Outlook
The BLS projects employment of roofers to grow 6% from 2024–34, faster than the average for all occupations, with about 12,700 openings projected each year on average (most from workers transferring to other occupations or retiring, not net-new growth alone).
Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Roofers, 2024–34 projections.
Keep Exploring
- How to become an electrician
- How to become an HVAC technician
- How to become a plumber
- How to become a welder
- How to become a carpenter
- How to become a mason
- How to become a painter
- How to become a heavy equipment operator
- How to become a landscaper
- How to become an ironworker
- How to become a glazier
Sources & Last Updated
Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), Roofers (SOC 47-2181), May 2025.
Job outlook: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, Roofers, 2024–34 projections.
Licensing and apprenticeship requirements vary by state — start with the U.S. Department of Labor's occupational license finder or apprenticeship.gov.
Full source list: methodology.
Last updated: May 2025.