How many quotes should I get for a roofing job in Chicago?

At least three. In the permit record the middle half of Chicago roofing firms usually file between $11,475 and $23,000 a job, so two ordinary firms can sit 2.0 times apart and both be normal for Chicago. A third quote shows which one is the outlier. Filed values are what contractors wrote on permits, not quotes, so use them to judge the spread, not to price your own job.

What range is normal for roofing jobs in Chicago?

Half of permits were filed between $11,700 and $27,900; 8 in 10 between $7,000 and $38,000. These are approximate, pooled from each firm's own spread.

How much do roofers charge in Chicago?

The usual roofing job is filed at $18,693; the middle half of firms usually file between $11,475 and $23,000. The 10 firms with the most permits in the last 12 months usually file $20,400, more than the usual. See every firm's usual job

Why is this different from the per-square-foot prices I see online?

Online prices are quoted per square foot. A filed value is one number for the whole job on one permit, often many square feet plus the work around them, and the Chicago file does not record how many each job covered, so we can't turn $18,693 into a price per square foot.

Do bigger houses get bigger bills?

In the file, yes for the firms: those working on the upper third of homes by value usually file $21,000, the lower third $17,026. That is firms, not single jobs.

Where does this data come from?

City of Chicago building permits (Chicago Data Portal), read October 2026. How the records work in Chicago

Roof Replacement Cost in Chicago, IL: Usual $18,693 (2026)

How much does roof replacement cost in Chicago?

The usual roofing job filed with Chicago is $18,693, from 1,586 priced permits, October 2023 through September 2026. The middle half of firms usually file between $11,475 and $23,000. Half of jobs were filed for less, half for more. A filed value is what the contractor wrote on the permit, not a quote or the final bill. A roofing permit here usually takes 207 days from issue to final inspection. How long permits take →

What the spread looks like

Approximately, from each firm's own spread: every firm's range of filed values, weighted by its 1,586 priced permits across 433 firms, pooled into one. Half of Chicago roofing permits were filed between $11,700 and $27,900.

Percentile	Filed value	Reads as
10th	$7,000	1 in 10 permits filed below
25th	$11,700	1 in 4 filed below
50th	$18,700	the middle permit
75th	$27,900	1 in 4 filed above
90th	$38,000	1 in 10 filed above

By home value

Firms split into thirds by the usual value of the homes they work on, with each third's usual filed value weighted by permits. Home values: Cook County Assessor values.

Firms working on	Usual home value	Usual filed value	Firms	Permits
Lower third	under $238,500	$17,026	144	715
Middle third	$238,500–$460,000	$16,260	144	480
Upper third	$460,000 and up	$21,000	145	391

Busiest firms and what they usually charge

Top 10 by permits in the last 12 months. Usual is each firm's middle filed value; middle half is the range its middle half of jobs were filed in. Busy is not the same as careful: pick what you value to build a list.

Firm	Permits	Last 12 mo	Usual	Middle half	Finished
Erie Construction Mid-West, LLC	66	59	$25,896	$21,795–$32,567	22.1%
Pacc Construction LLC dba Pacc Building Group LLC	74	48	$17,026	$13,291–$22,996	47.1%
Exceptional Exteriors PLLC	73	46	$16,016	$12,121–$19,538	47.3%
Magdan Construction Inc	75	29	$30,000	$30,000	70.8%
Holman and Nachtwey Company	60	27	$20,400	$13,825–$26,937	75.1%
J & P Exteriors 1 Inc	27	25	$16,260	$12,262–$22,695	—
Heels and Hammers Construction LLC	45	24	$26,000	$18,000–$29,000	76.1%
Cortex Construction Group Ltd	25	20	$28,175	$22,900–$33,203	4 of 5
Nombach Company Inc	63	19	$20,000	$13,500–$27,000	77.1%
Remodeling Ramirez Inc	24	17	$17,637	$14,676–$23,925	5 of 8

Why filed values run low or high

The 10 busiest firms usually file $20,400; the 407 firms with fewer than 10 permits usually file $15,300.
Firms working on the most expensive third of homes (usual home value $460,000 and up) usually file $21,000, against $17,026 for the least expensive third.
One permit type covers small and large jobs: 1 in 10 roofing permits is filed under $7,000 and 1 in 10 over $38,000, 5 times as much.
100.0% of the 1,586 permits carry a value; the 0 without one are left out of every figure here.

Is your quote normal? Compare it with 1,586 filed values

Line your quote up against the file. In Chicago, 1 in 10 roofing filed values sit under $7,000, the middle half between $11,700 and $27,900, and 1 in 10 over $38,000.

$49,400Above $38,000: higher than 9 in 10 filed values for this work in Chicago.
$18,693Right at the usual $18,693: in the middle of the file.
$4,900Below $7,000: lower than 9 in 10. Ask what the quote leaves out.

When to schedule roofing work in Chicago

Chicago files the fewest roofing permits in January (36 against an average month of 100) and the most in August (164). If you can choose, ask for quotes in a quiet month. We have no prices by month, so this is about crews' schedules, not a discount. When each trade is busiest in Chicago →

How these numbers are made

Source: City of Chicago building permits (Chicago Data Portal). The window is October 2023 through September 2026; a permit filed after that isn't here yet.

Usual is the middle permit: half were filed for less, half for more. Only permits with a filed value count; a value of $0 or none is left out.

The spread is approximate: we keep seven points of each firm's own range of filed values, not every permit, and pool them.

Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can. How the records work in Chicago →

Guides for this trade

All guides →

Common questions

How many quotes should I get for a roofing job in Chicago?At least three. In the permit record the middle half of Chicago roofing firms usually file between $11,475 and $23,000 a job, so two ordinary firms can sit 2.0 times apart and both be normal for Chicago. A third quote shows which one is the outlier. Filed values are what contractors wrote on permits, not quotes, so use them to judge the spread, not to price your own job.
What range is normal for roofing jobs in Chicago?Half of permits were filed between $11,700 and $27,900; 8 in 10 between $7,000 and $38,000. These are approximate, pooled from each firm's own spread.
How much do roofers charge in Chicago?The usual roofing job is filed at $18,693; the middle half of firms usually file between $11,475 and $23,000. The 10 firms with the most permits in the last 12 months usually file $20,400, more than the usual. See every firm's usual job →
Why is this different from the per-square-foot prices I see online?Online prices are quoted per square foot. A filed value is one number for the whole job on one permit, often many square feet plus the work around them, and the Chicago file does not record how many each job covered, so we can't turn $18,693 into a price per square foot.
Do bigger houses get bigger bills?In the file, yes for the firms: those working on the upper third of homes by value usually file $21,000, the lower third $17,026. That is firms, not single jobs.
Where does this data come from?City of Chicago building permits (Chicago Data Portal), read October 2026. How the records work in Chicago →

Build your list of Chicago roofing firms →Chicago permit statistics →How long permits take in Chicago →Metal roof vs shingles: what the roofing permits in 27 cities show →

Roofing cost in other cities: Orlando Cleveland Miami Minneapolis Colorado Springs Boulder Saint Paul Cambridge Somerville Cape Coral Provo Palo Alto Denton Burlington, VT Seattle San Francisco Anaheim Elk Grove Tyler, TX Wheaton, IL Marin County (unincorporated) Sacramento County (unincorporated) Citrus Heights, CA

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Roof Replacement Cost in Chicago, IL: what the permits say