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 $50,970 per year as of May 2024 — the middle 80% earned between $37,060 and $80,780.
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), Roofers (SOC 47-2181), May 2024.
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.