Commercial Roofing Statistics 2026: Market, Costs, Materials, Labor & Industry Trends

There is no single federal dataset separating every dollar of “commercial roofing” from residential roofing. The most defensible national industry benchmark is therefore NAICS 238160, Roofing Contractors, combined with data specifically covering nonresidential roofing activity.

The United States had 25,519 employer roofing-contractor establishments in 2023 (U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns). Those establishments generated more than $15.18 billion in annual payroll during 2023 (U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns).

The industry is highly fragmented. 16,661 of the 25,519 establishments, about 65%, employed fewer than five people, while only 216 establishments employed 100 or more people (U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns).

The strongest 2026 commercial roofing signal is coming from reroofing rather than new construction.

During Q2 2026, 37% of respondents said customer inquiries increased compared with Q2 2025. Another 32% reported no change, while 31% reported a decrease (NRCA Quarterly Market Index Survey for Reroofing). Project contracts performed slightly better: 38% reported increases, 32% reported no change, and 30% reported decreases during Q2 2026 (NRCA Quarterly Market Index Survey).

The commercial-heavy low-slope category was notably stronger than steep-slope roofing. Its Q2 customer-inquiries index stood at 60.2, while its project-contracts index reached 63.3. By comparison, steep-slope readings were only 31.8 and 40.9, respectively (NRCA Quarterly Market Index Survey).

The trajectory also improved between the first and second quarters. The low-slope project-contract index moved from 56.1 in Q1 to 63.3 in Q2 2026 (NRCA Quarterly Market Index Survey).

Backlogs remain meaningful but not universal. In July 2026, 30% of respondents reported no backlog, 32% had one to two months, 24% had three to four months, and 14% reported five months or more (NRCA Quarterly Market Index Survey).

Given this expansion, commercial property owners weighing repair, restoration or full replacement should understand how modern low-slope roof systems perform before committing to a scope of work.

Commercial roofing pricing has changed dramatically since the late 2010s. The BLS Producer Price Index for roofing contractors performing nonresidential building work reached 232.226 in August 2026, using December 2007 as the 100 baseline — approximately 132% higher than the December 2007 baseline.

The same index was 219.685 in August 2025, meaning nonresidential roofing contractor prices increased approximately 5.7% year over year by August 2026 (calculated from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics PPI data).

These figures are price indexes, not installed cost-per-square-foot estimates. Actual commercial roof replacement costs vary substantially according to membrane type, insulation, tear-off requirements, deck condition, drainage, penetrations, building height, access, labor market and geography.

Single-ply remains the dominant product category among commercial roofing contractors surveyed by Roofing Contractor. In its 2025 Commercial Roofing Trends research, 80% of respondents reported involvement with single-ply roofing, compared with 77% for low-slope asphalt and 75% for metal roofing (Roofing Contractor Commercial Roofing Trends Report).

Single-ply represented an average 28% of commercial contractor revenue, while metal represented 15% (Roofing Contractor Commercial Roofing Trends Report). Within single-ply roofing, 37% identified TPO as their leading product category, compared with 28% for PVC and 24% for EPDM (Roofing Contractor Commercial Roofing Trends Report).

TPO vs. PVC vs. EPDM

TPO remained the most frequently identified leading single-ply category, but its position narrowed. The prior year’s survey had 49% identifying TPO as the product-category leader, while EPDM stood at 23% and PVC at roughly 20% (Roofing Contractor Commercial Roofing Trends Report). This comparison should be read as contractor survey data, not a measurement of total U.S. installed roofing square footage.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey provides one of the most comprehensive federal datasets on the physical characteristics of U.S. commercial buildings.

The 2018 CBECS estimated 5.9 million commercial buildings nationwide, collectively consuming 6.8 quadrillion Btu of energy and spending approximately $141 billion on energy (U.S. Energy Information Administration). Among those buildings, approximately 1.914 million had flat roofs, 2.313 million had shallow-pitch roofs, and 1.691 million had steeper-pitch roofs (U.S. Energy Information Administration CBECS).

The material numbers also show why commercial roofing cannot be treated as a single-product market. Metal surfacing was the predominant material on approximately 2.198 million buildings, synthetic or rubber roofing on 940,000, and built-up roofing on approximately 708,000 (U.S. Energy Information Administration CBECS). Approximately 847,000 commercial buildings reported a roof replacement since 2000 in the 2018 survey (U.S. Energy Information Administration CBECS).

Cool Roofing

Approximately 1.285 million commercial buildings reported white or reflective roof coating or paint in the 2018 CBECS (U.S. Energy Information Administration). ENERGY STAR reports that on a typical summer afternoon, a clean white roof reflecting 80% of sunlight can remain about 50°F cooler than a gray roof reflecting only 20% (ENERGY STAR, citing Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Heat Island Group).

Roofing remains a labor-intensive trade, and federal projections point to continued demand for workers. The U.S. had approximately 166,900 roofer jobs in 2025. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment will reach approximately 175,600 by 2035, an increase of 8,800 jobs, or about 5%.

BLS expects roughly 12,000 roofer openings per year over the 2025–2035 period, with many openings created by workers transferring occupations or leaving the labor force (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). The median annual roofer wage was $55,440 in May 2025, with the lowest 10% earning less than $37,460 and the highest 10% earning more than $81,720 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Roofing continues to carry substantial occupational risk. The roofing-contractors industry recorded 120 fatal occupational injuries in 2024 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries). Of those fatalities, 96 involved falls, slips or trips, meaning those events accounted for 80% of recorded roofing-contractor fatalities in the table (calculated from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics CFOI data).

For comparison, the broader construction and extraction occupational group recorded 1,032 fatal work injuries in 2024, with a fatal injury rate of 12.6 per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

A 2024 OSHA investigation provides a concrete example of the hazard. A roofer working on a commercial building fell 31 feet through a roof surface and sustained fatal injuries.

One of the clearest long-term commercial roofing trends is price escalation. The BLS nonresidential roofing contractor index rose gradually through most of the 2010s before accelerating sharply after 2020.

The most pronounced jump occurred between December 2021 and December 2022, when the index increased from 156.401 to 189.425, an increase of roughly 21.1% in one year (calculated from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics PPI data). The index then continued upward, but at a slower pace, reaching 206.452 in December 2023, 212.901 in December 2024, 224.653 in December 2025, and 232.226 by August 2026 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Reroofing momentum, 2025 to 2026

Market sentiment has also shifted. In Q4 2025, only 24% of respondents reported increasing customer inquiries, while 45% reported decreases. Project contracts increased for 28% and decreased for 38% (NRCA Quarterly Market Index Survey). By Q1 2026, 36% reported increasing inquiries and 33% increasing contracts. By Q2 2026, those figures had moved to 37% for increasing inquiries and 38% for increasing contracts.

The sequence suggests a reroofing market that weakened late in 2025 but regained momentum through the first half of 2026, particularly in low-slope commercial work.

Three trends matter most for building owners and property managers in 2026.

First, commercial reroofing demand is strengthening. The Q2 low-slope contracts index of 63.3 is well above the neutral 50 threshold (NRCA Quarterly Market Index Survey). Second, roofing prices remain elevated. The nonresidential roofing contractor PPI reached 232.226 in August 2026, approximately 5.7% higher than August 2025 and roughly 132% above the December 2007 baseline. Third, the installed commercial roof base is enormous. Federal data identifies approximately 1.914 million commercial buildings with flat roofs and another 2.313 million with shallow-pitch roofs (U.S. Energy Information Administration CBECS).

The complete set of figures cited throughout this report, for quick reference.

This commercial roofing statistics report prioritizes primary government datasets and original industry surveys. Government statistics were drawn primarily from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Energy Information Administration and OSHA, while current reroofing conditions were taken from the industrywide Quarterly Market Index Survey coordinated by NRCA and partner trade associations.

Commercial roofing does not have a single federal statistical classification separate from all roofing activity, so figures labeled as roofing-industry totals use NAICS 238160 where appropriate. Low-slope roofing, nonresidential roofing and commercial-building data are used when a source provides a more precise commercial-market measure. Calculated percentages are explicitly identified rather than presented as independently published statistics.