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Metal roof vs shingles: what the roofing permits in 27 cities show

Metal costs more to put on than asphalt shingles: the three cost guides at the top of the search results put a metal roof at about 1.2 to 1.9 times the price of a shingle roof, though none of them says where its figures come from (Fixr, Bob Vila, EcoWatch; table below). The permit file cannot settle the gap for your city. San Francisco issued 9,537 roofing permits between October 2023 and September 2026, and our file has no field saying whether any of them was metal or shingle; nor does it for the other 26 cities. What the permits do show: the usual San Francisco reroof was filed at $15,275, and the middle half of its 335 firms with three or more roofing permits usually file between $11,000 and $19,600 a job; the other 26 cities are in the table below. The rules that differ between metal and shingles (tear-off, hail ratings, hurricane approvals) are in codes and statutes, quoted below.

By Contractor Records · data through October 19, 2026

The decision table

Question Metal Shingles
Can it go over the old roof? Standing-seam and other complete, separate systems that carry loads to the structure "shall not require the removal of existing roof coverings" (2018 IRC R908.3.1, as quoted by East Point, GA). Whether that overrides the two-layer bar is not stated; ask your building department Yes if installed to the manufacturer's instructions, but not over a roof that already has two or more layers, is water-soaked, or is slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile (2018 IRC R908.3.1.1, same guide; the bar applies to any new covering)
Hail (Texas insurance rules) Formed metal panels can be rated Class 1 to 4 under UL 2218 (Texas Department of Insurance) Shingles can carry the same UL 2218 classes; the Texas discount for each class is set by each insurer (TDI)
Hurricane zone (Miami-Dade) Approved panels carry a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance; NOA 25-1023.14 covers Amrize Building Envelope's UC-3 aluminum standing-seam panels, approved 11/20/25, expires 02/15/28 Approved shingles carry one too; NOA 26-0331.03 covers five TAMKO asphalt shingle lines for the Florida Building Code High Velocity Hurricane Zone, approved 07/23/26, expires 12/01/30
California cool-roof rule Metal is among the materials the Energy Commission says can meet it (2022 fact sheet). Under the 2025 Energy Code, which applies to permits applied for from 1 January 2026, a reroof triggers it when 50 percent or more of the roof area is replaced; steep-sloped roofs are exempt if, for example, the house has R-38 ceiling insulation or an attic radiant barrier (CEC 2025 compliance manual, ch. 9) Asphalt is on the same list; same trigger
San Francisco permit $514 and up for a single-family home or duplex; the application asks for existing and proposed material (sf.gov) Same fee, same form
What the permit file says about price Nothing separate Nothing separate; see the city table below

What the national cost guides say

Guide Metal Shingles Ratio What the figure rests on
Fixr (August 2024), 1,500 sq ft roof $6,700–$12,200 $5,400–$9,800 about 1.2× at the midpoints "Licensed contractors and industry experts"; no source per figure
Bob Vila (updated November 2023) $13,200 average $9,200 average about 1.4× Angi, HomeAdvisor and a metal roofer listed at the foot, not tied to figures
EcoWatch (page dated 2022 to 2026), 1,500 sq ft home about $17,250 about $9,000 about 1.9× Per-square-foot prices with no source; its main expert runs a metal-roofing manufacturer

The same three pages put metal's life at 30 to 70 years or more and asphalt's at 12 to 30, also without a source. The one lifespan anyone is bound by is the manufacturer's warranty term, so ask for it in writing for the exact product on the quote. A national range also hides the local spread: in San Francisco alone, the middle half of roofing firms file a usual job between $11,000 and $19,600.

What roofing permits show in 27 cities

"Usual filed value" is the middle value contractors wrote on roofing permits. "Middle half of firms" is the range of usual job values for the middle half of firms with three or more permits. "Finished" is the share of mature permits that reached final inspection. "Top-5 share" is the share of permits held by the five busiest firms. A dash means the city's file does not carry that field.

City Permits Firms Usual filed value Middle half of firms Finished Usual days to final Busiest month Top-5 share
Anaheim 1,970 568 $13,900 $11,500–$16,000 96.4% 16 August 12.7%
Bellevue 333 92 — — 91.2% 41 July 39.0%
Boulder 2,516 426 $11,500 $9,398–$16,000 86.3% 41 June 24.5%
Burlington, VT (roofing and siding) 473 153 $10,650 $9,255–$14,700 68.3% 159 August 31.5%
Cambridge 766 353 $18,000 $14,800–$24,129 92.4% 17 April 29.5%
Cape Coral 2,018 465 $17,200 $14,875–$24,000 98.4% 39 January 26.1%
Citrus Heights, CA 1,850 365 $16,560 $13,286–$19,590 85.4% 21 April 16.1%
Chicago 1,586 433 $18,693 $11,475–$23,000 64.7% 207 August 22.1%
Cleveland 4,923 586 $10,500 $8,000–$12,850 78.3% 91 October 15.6%
Colorado Springs 23,508 709 $12,000 $8,600–$14,575 — 41 October 13.4%
Denton 595 247 $17,353 $13,634–$20,000 90.0% 39 July 22.0%
Elk Grove 572 200 $18,350 $14,849–$24,500 97.5% 15 April 17.1%
Marin County, CA (unincorporated) 1,943 300 $20,421 $16,500–$25,000 85.9% 58 August 34.9%
Miami 6,585 908 $16,250 $12,996–$20,400 97.5% 38 October 8.4%
Minneapolis 18,620 1,483 $13,000 $9,660–$16,057 93.0% 85 October 13.2%
Orlando 9,818 1,058 $11,015 $10,000–$15,760 — 27 March 20.0%
Palo Alto 1,603 398 $21,400 $16,900–$27,935 — 48 September 20.1%
Provo (re-roof) 286 67 $15,745 $13,872–$24,570 36.1% — October 54.5%
Sacramento County, CA (unincorporated) 5,397 748 $16,575 $13,900–$20,000 88.1% 19 April 14.4%
Saint Paul 16,928 1,322 $12,600 $9,550–$15,552 76.2% 128 September 11.6%
San Francisco 9,537 1,072 $15,275 $11,000–$19,600 87.3% 36 October 16.2%
Seattle 633 61 $19,345 $15,000–$23,183 88.6% 67 June 86.3%
Somerville 756 303 $16,378 $12,250–$20,432 38.8% — October 27.0%
St. Louis 491 204 $20,000 $12,265–$30,289 70.4% 294 August 31.8%
Sugar Land 3,045 604 — — 47.3% 17 April 25.1%
Tyler 2,980 218 $19,054 $13,000–$21,232 22.9% — March 54.8%
Wheaton, IL 917 295 $15,432 $13,250–$19,850 — — October 28.7%

Colorado Springs filed 23,508 roofing permits and Minneapolis 18,620, against 1,586 in Chicago; the file does not say why. Florida roofing permits close: 98.4% of Cape Coral permits and 97.5% of Miami's reached final, against 64.7% in Chicago, where the usual permit took 207 days. Tyler (22.9%), Provo (36.1%), Somerville (38.8%) and Sugar Land (47.3%) record low finished shares. Our guess, which the file cannot confirm, is that this reflects how those cities close permits more than how roofers work; compare firms within one city, not cities with each other.

Where firms disagree, material is one likely reason

Because no field records material, the spread between firms is the closest the file gets to the metal-versus-shingle question. Bands differ a lot by city: the middle half of firms' usual jobs runs from $12,265 to $30,289 in St. Louis (20 firms) and from $11,475 to $23,000 in Chicago, but only $11,500 to $16,000 in Anaheim. Look up your own city's band in the table above.

Our inference, labelled as one: where the band is wide, firms in the same city are doing different jobs, and different materials (metal, tile, slate, flat-roof membranes, shingles) and different scope (tear-off, new decking) are the likely candidates. Where it is narrow, most firms are doing similar work. The file cannot confirm either. What you can do with it: open the quoting firm's page, compare its usual value with your city's band, and if a shingle quote sits above the band, ask what is in it.

Each city's roofing cost page shows the full spread (1 in 10 jobs filed below, half between, 1 in 10 above) and where a number on your quote falls: San Francisco, Miami, Colorado Springs, Minneapolis, Chicago, Saint Paul, Orlando, Palo Alto, Wheaton, Sacramento County, Marin County, Citrus Heights. Wheaton records no final inspection for reroofs, so its finished and days cells are blank. Bellevue and Sugar Land record no value on roofing permits, so they have no cost page.

When a reroof needs a permit

  • San Francisco. "You need a permit before installing, repairing, or removing roofing material", with exemptions in Building Code section 106a.2 item 13. The fee is $514 and up for single-family homes and duplexes. A licensed C-39 roofing contractor can file online only when the work needs no plans and replaces no structural parts such as framing or decking; otherwise it is an over-the-counter building permit (sf.gov, read 20 October 2026).
  • Colorado Springs. The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department lists roofing among projects that require a permit, and exempts "repairs to roofing and/or siding when the repair constitutes less than 100 square feet" (PPRBD, read 20 October 2026).

  • Minneapolis. Reroofs are among the jobs a pre-approved licensed contractor can file through the City's express permit tool, for work on an existing one- or two-family home (City of Minneapolis, read 20 October 2026). The page does not itself say a reroof requires a permit. Minnesota's ice-barrier rule and the Minneapolis numbers are in metal roof vs shingles in Minneapolis.

  • Wheaton, Illinois (Chicago suburbs). The City takes residential roofing permits through its online portal and says "there are no required inspections in the City of Wheaton for re-roofing", which is why our Wheaton file has no finished share or days to final for roofing. The work must be done by a contractor holding "a minimum of a Limited State of Illinois Roofing License - residential roofing", or by the owner without an assistant, and the City lists "Ice and Water Shield, Roof Venting, and any other required roofing components" as required whatever the material; the application includes a residential energy code form (City of Wheaton, read 21 October 2026). Roofers also register with the City each year for $75 and file a copy of their state roofing license (Wheaton contractor requirements, revised 2/19/2025). In Wheaton the usual roofing permit was filed at $15,432 over 917 permits, and the middle half of firms usually filed $13,250 to $19,850; 81.7% of the 295 firms matched an active Illinois roofing license by name. Filing peaks in October (index 181) and bottoms out in December (17). With no city inspection, the license check and the written scope (tear-off, underlayment, ice barrier) are the homeowner's only controls; see the Wheaton roofing cost page.

So a roofer who says your full replacement in San Francisco or Colorado Springs does not need a permit is wrong. To check one was pulled, search your address on the city's permit portal; the permit-check guide has the links.

Hurricane and hail rules

Florida. In Miami-Dade, roofing products are approved by the County's Product Control Section through a Notice of Acceptance; the shingle NOA in the table requires each unit to carry the label "Miami-Dade County Product Control Approved" (NOA 26-0331.03). Ask your roofer for the NOA number on the quote and open it at miamidade.gov: the approval and expiration dates are on page 1, and the NOA says it is not valid after the expiration date. Florida law says that if the existing roof was built, repaired or replaced under the 2007 Florida Building Code or later and 25 percent or more of it is being repaired, replaced or recovered, only that portion must meet the code now in effect (s. 553.844(5)). And insurers' residential rate filings must include discounts for features that improve roof strength, roof covering performance and wind uplift (s. 627.0629(1)).

Texas. The Texas Department of Insurance says shingles, tiles, shakes and formed metal panels can all be tested under UL 2218 and rated Class 1 to 4, that Class 4 earns the highest credit, and that the amount is set company by company. For a TWIA credit the contractor fills out form PC068 after installation. TDI says the discount is set "for each class of roofing material", so the impact class on the label, not whether it is metal or shingle, is the thing to ask about.

What this does not tell you

The file does not record roof material, roof size, pitch, number of layers torn off, or what you paid. The filed value is what the contractor wrote on the application. Windows differ: most cities cover October 2023 to September 2026, but Saint Paul covers 2022-07 to 2025-06, Cape Coral 2025-01 to 2026-09 and Burlington 2023-04 to 2026-03, and Burlington's trade includes siding. Permit counts depend on what each city requires and publishes, so a low count is not a quiet roofing market. We found no official source for lifespan, energy savings or resale value of metal against shingles, so this page gives none.

How we know this

Source: each city's open building-permit data, roofing permits on homes classified by us from the city's permit type and description, 27 cities, snapshots 30 June 2025 (Saint Paul) and 27 April to 19 October 2026 (the rest). Fields: permit count, distinct firms, filed job value (usual = middle value), middle half of firms' usual values (firms with 3+ permits), finished share of mature permits, issue-to-final days with open permits counted as unfinished, monthly filing index, share held by the five busiest firms. No field records roof material. Code and insurance facts are quoted from the San Francisco DBI, City of Wheaton, Pikes Peak Regional Building Department, City of Minneapolis, City of East Point (IRC text), Texas Department of Insurance, Florida Statutes, Miami-Dade Product Control and California Energy Commission pages listed below, read 20 October 2026. IRC section numbers are the 2018 edition's, as East Point quotes them.

Numbers come from San Francisco DBI building permits on one- and two-family homes, with the contractor from the city's permit contacts file; City of Miami building permits (since 2014); Pikes Peak Regional Building Department permits inside Colorado Springs city limits; City of Minneapolis construction permits (CCS); City of Chicago building permits (Chicago Data Portal); City of Wheaton permits on homes (the city's permit application and inspection exports); Sacramento County building permits on single-family, duplex and townhouse homes in the unincorporated county (the County's Accela permit layer); Marin County Community Development Agency building permits on homes in unincorporated Marin (the County's open-data permit and inspection files); City of Citrus Heights building permits on homes (the city's issued-permits layer), data through October 19, 2026. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can.

See every San Francisco roofer by their permit record →

See every Miami roofer by their permit record →

See every Colorado Springs roofer by their permit record →

See every Minneapolis roofer by their permit record →

See every Chicago roofer by their permit record →

Questions

  • Can the permit file tell me what a metal roof costs compared with shingles in my city?

    No. None of the 27 cities' files in our dataset has a roof-material field, so every filed value here covers all roofing permits together. Some free-text descriptions mention a material (San Francisco's, for example, can say "shingle" or "TPO"), but we have not sorted permits by material. San Francisco's online reroof application asks for the existing and proposed roof material; that answer is not in the file we read. Anyone quoting a city-level metal-versus-shingle split from permits has had to classify descriptions themselves; ask how.

  • Do I need a permit to replace my roof?

    In San Francisco and Colorado Springs, yes. San Francisco says you need a permit before installing, repairing or removing roofing material, with exemptions in Building Code section 106a.2 item 13. The Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (Colorado Springs) lists roofing as work that needs a permit and exempts roofing or siding repairs under 100 square feet. Minneapolis lets pre-approved licensed contractors file reroofs on existing one- or two-family homes through its express permit tool; that page does not itself state the requirement, so ask the City.

  • Can a metal roof go over my existing shingles?

    Sometimes. The 2018 IRC reroof section, as quoted in the City of East Point's guide, says complete and separate systems such as standing-seam metal that carry the roof loads to the structure "shall not require the removal of existing roof coverings" (R908.3.1). The next section, R908.3.1.1, bars a new covering over a roof that is water-soaked, already has two or more layers, or is slate, clay, cement or asbestos-cement tile. The guide does not say which wins when a standing-seam system goes over two layers, and your city may use a later edition or an amendment; ask the building department before you sign.

  • Will an impact-rated roof lower my insurance?

    It can. In Texas, the Department of Insurance says roofing rated Class 1 to 4 under UL 2218 may earn a discount, Class 4 the highest, with the amount set by each insurer; shingles and formed metal panels both qualify. In Florida, s. 627.0629 requires residential rate filings to include discounts for features that improve roof covering performance and wind uplift. Ask your insurer which form they need before the roof goes on.

  • Is the filed value what a roof costs?

    No. It is the job value the contractor wrote on the permit application. Use it to see whether a quote sits inside what other jobs in your city were filed at, not as a price.

  • Metal roof or shingles in Wheaton, IL: does the City inspect either?

    No. The City of Wheaton takes residential roofing permits but says "there are no required inspections in the City of Wheaton for re-roofing". The roofer must hold at least a limited Illinois residential roofing license, and ice and water shield and roof venting are required for any material. The usual Wheaton roofing permit was filed at $15,432; the file has no material field.

Build your own list

Every firm with that kind of permit on record. Pick what you value. The list moves.

San Francisco roofingMiami roofingColorado Springs roofingMinneapolis roofingChicago roofingWheaton, IL roofingSacramento County (unincorporated) roofingMarin County (unincorporated) roofing

Related guides

For one city

All guides →

Sources
  1. Apply for a reroofing permit, San Francisco Department of Building Inspection (sf.gov) (accessed 2026-10-20)
  2. Homeowner permit information, Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (accessed 2026-10-20)
  3. Work not requiring a permit, Pikes Peak Regional Building Department (accessed 2026-10-20)
  4. Express limited permits for contractors, City of Minneapolis (accessed 2026-10-20)
  5. 2018 IRC building guide: residential re-roof (quotes IRC R908.3.1 and R908.3.1.1), City of East Point, GA (2024-03, accessed 2026-10-20)
  6. Roofing - Residential, City of Wheaton Building and Code Enforcement (accessed 2026-10-21)
  7. Contractor Registration Requirements, City of Wheaton (revised 2/19/2025) (accessed 2026-10-21)
  8. Products qualifying for impact-resistant roofing credits, Texas Department of Insurance (as of 2023-02-24, accessed 2026-10-20)
  9. Florida Statutes s. 553.844, Windstorm loss mitigation; requirements for roofs (2026 statutes, accessed 2026-10-20)
  10. Florida Statutes s. 627.0629, Residential property insurance; rate filings (2026 statutes, accessed 2026-10-20)
  11. Miami-Dade County Product Control, NOA 26-0331.03 (TAMKO roof shingles) (approved 2026-07-23, accessed 2026-10-20)
  12. Miami-Dade County Product Control, NOA 25-1023.14 (Amrize Building Envelope UC-3 aluminum standing-seam metal roof panels) (approved 2025-11-20, accessed 2026-10-20)
  13. Energy efficient cool roofs, single-family residential, 2022 Building Energy Efficiency Standards, California Energy Commission (2023-08, accessed 2026-10-20)
  14. 2025 Single-Family Residential Compliance Manual, Chapter 9: Additions, Alterations and Repairs, California Energy Commission (2025-05, accessed 2026-10-20)
  15. 2025 Building Energy Efficiency Standards, California Energy Commission (accessed 2026-10-20)
  16. Metal Roof vs. Shingles Cost in 2024 (Fixr) (2024-08-27; read 2026-10-21)
  17. Metal Roof vs. Shingles Cost: What Impacts How Much You Pay? (Bob Vila) (updated 2023-11-29; read 2026-10-21)
  18. Metal Roof Vs. Shingles: Differences and Cost Analysis (EcoWatch) (page dates conflict (2022–2026); read 2026-10-21)