Reviewed 2026-09-01
Roof replacement cost in Philadelphia, PA
| Scope | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tear-off and architectural shingles, 1,667 sq ft planning roof | $9,520 | $12,210 | $16,360 |
How much does a roof replacement cost in Philadelphia?
A roof replacement in Philadelphia typically costs $12,210 for the example home. The range is $9,520 to $16,360. That is a tear-off of one layer of shingles and a new architectural asphalt roof. It is not a metal roof, not a tile roof, and not a second story added under the old one. The price uses a planning roof area of 1,667 square feet, which is the example home’s 1,450 square feet of floor times 1.15. That 1.15 is a stand-in for a simple roof. It is not a measurement. A steep roof, a complicated hip, or a measured square count replaces it the day someone is on a ladder.
What Philadelphia labor does to a roof
The national starting point is $6.80 per square foot of that planning roof, before the city. About 52 percent of the price is the crew. Philadelphia labor is 1.14 times a national crew, which adds about $870 versus a crew priced at 1.00. The typical price works out to about $10 per square foot of planning roof. Materials, the shingles themselves, barely move between cities. The hours do. A low labor factor is not a cheap roof if the deck is rotten.
Low, typical, and high on a Philadelphia roof
Low, $9,520, is one layer, a walkable pitch, a driveway the dumpster can sit in, and decking that does not need sheets. Typical, $12,210, is that same scope on the example house, built around 1948. rowhouses with party walls, basements, and a mix of oil, gas, and electric High, $16,360, is the same shingles when access is worse, the permit takes a second trip, or a few boards are replaced and hauled. A full redeck, a second layer that has to come off, ice-and-water on a whole valley system, or a crane is a different project and can sit above the high number without anyone cheating.
What the climate does, and what it does not
Philadelphia is zone 4A, with about 4,480 heating degree days and 1,230 cooling degree days. Heat and hail and coastal wind change which shingle and which underlayment a roofer specifies. They do not, by themselves, multiply this table. Philadelphia rowhouses share walls and often share nothing else: oil tanks in one basement, a gas meter in the next, knob-and-tube still present above some plaster. The labor factor is only moderately above national. The high column is access — a heater at the back of a finished basement — and a permit office that expects a chimney liner. Ask the quote to name the shingle line, the underlayment, and whether the deck is included. A price with no scope is not comparable to $12,210.
If you rent, and if the number is for the wrong house
A renter does not replace a roof. Use the range only to understand a building-wide assessment, not to hire a roofer. An owner with a different floor area should not use 1,667 square feet. Set your square footage in the calculator. A 1,000 square foot ranch and a 2,400 square foot two-story are not the same roof, and this page will not pretend they are. Reviewed 2026-09-01. Planning model: IECC climate zone, degree-day normals, a metro labor factor, and a residential rate used only for operating-cost context. Installed costs start from published national ranges and scale the labor share. Rents are planning medians, not listings. Reviewed 2026-09-01.
Before you sign in Philadelphia, ask three things: how many squares they measured, whether the deck is included, and what happens if they open the roof and find more than a few bad boards. The planning figure here is $12,210 at labor 1.14, on a 1948 home. If their measurement is different, their price should be different. Do not argue them down to this number if they measured a larger roof.
Questions this page can answer
- How much does a new roof cost in Philadelphia?
- For the example home, typically $12,210, from $9,520 to $16,360. That uses a planning roof of 1,667 square feet. A measured roof replaces it.
- Does that Philadelphia price include tearing off the old shingles?
- Yes, one layer. A second layer, or a deck that has to be replaced across the roof, is outside the high number of $16,360.
- Why isnu2019t the roof the same price as the floor area?
- The house is about 1,450 square feet of floor. The planning roof is 15 percent more, 1,667 square feet, because a roof is not a floor plan. A steep or cut-up roof is more again.