A new roof is one of the largest single items a homeowner buys, and it is bought roughly once or twice in a lifetime, which means almost nobody has a reference point for whether a quote is reasonable. This covers what the regional figures actually are, what a complete quote should have on it so you can compare two of them fairly, and how long the work takes once it starts. Every figure here is labelled with where it comes from, because roofing costs vary enormously by region and a national average is not much use to you.
What a new roof costs
For the Los Angeles metro, roof replacement averages about $17,271, with a normal range of roughly $10,256 to $24,963 (Angi, July 2026). A second source puts Los Angeles at about $16,500, ranging $9,500 to $23,600 (HomeAdvisor, June 2026). Statewide California comes in slightly lower, at $12,000 to $20,000 (Fixr, 2025).
There is no Inland Empire roofing cost publication. Every figure on this page is LA metro or statewide, and we would rather say so than present a regional number we cannot support. Labour here does run below Los Angeles and Orange County, so the lower half of those ranges is generally the more realistic half for San Bernardino County, CA.
By house size, LA metro averages run roughly as follows (Angi, July 2026):
| Home size | Average | Range |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 sq ft | $11,200 | $5,200 to $15,600 |
| 1,500 sq ft | $15,500 | $7,200 to $21,600 |
| 2,000 sq ft | $18,900 | $8,800 to $26,400 |
| 2,500 sq ft | $24,100 | $11,200 to $33,600 |
Cost by material
Installed cost per square foot, LA metro (Angi, July 2026): asphalt shingle $4 to $12, clay or concrete tile $7 to $15, metal $7 to $16, slate $15 to $30.
Roofers price in squares rather than square feet, where one square is 100 square feet of roof area. That puts asphalt at roughly $400 to $1,200 per square. If a quote is written in squares and you want to sanity-check it, that is the conversion.
Sources disagree meaningfully on tile and metal, so treat those two ranges as wider than they look. Metal in particular spans everything from corrugated steel to standing seam, and no single range describes both.
What moves the number
Roof area, not floor area. A single-storey house has considerably more roof per square foot of living space than a two-storey one, which is why a 2,000 square foot ranch can cost more to roof than a 2,000 square foot two-storey.
Complexity. Hips, valleys, dormers, skylights, chimneys and multiple planes all add labour. A simple gable roof is the cheapest shape per square foot there is.
Pitch and access. A steep roof needs staging and fall protection and slows everything down. Difficult access for a dumpster and materials does the same.
Existing layers. Removal and disposal runs about $1,000 to $3,000 in this market, and two layers cost more to take off than one.
What is found underneath. Damaged sheathing is the most common surprise, and it is the reason a quote should carry a stated deck-repair allowance rather than leaving it to be discussed while the roof is open.
Roof replacement cost, and what a complete quote should itemise
Comparing roof replacement quotes is difficult because two contractors can describe genuinely different jobs using the same words. The fix is to compare line items rather than totals.
What belongs on the quote
A complete quote should name all of the following. If one is missing it is not necessarily wrong, but it is a question worth asking.
- Tear-off and disposal, with the number of existing layers stated
- Deck inspection, and a per-sheet price for replacing damaged sheathing
- Underlayment type and specification
- The roofing material by manufacturer, product line and colour, not just “architectural shingle”
- New flashing at every penetration, valley, wall junction and chimney, rather than reusing existing
- New pipe boots and vents
- Ventilation, both intake and exhaust
- Ridge and hip treatment
- Permit fees and inspection
- Cool roof compliance, and which product meets it
- Site protection and clean-up, including a magnetic sweep for nails
- The workmanship warranty, and separately the manufacturer’s material warranty
Flashing is the item worth being most alert to. Most roof leaks in this region start at a penetration or a wall junction rather than in the open field of the roof, and reusing old flashing on a new roof is the most common way a new roof leaks in its first winter.
Permits and inspection
A residential re-roof requires a permit, and the work is inspected. That is not optional and it is not a formality, and it is the point at which cool roof compliance gets documented.
Unpermitted roofing becomes your problem rather than the contractor’s, and it surfaces at the least convenient moment: during escrow, when the buyer’s inspector asks for permit history and there is none. A contractor who offers to skip the permit to save you time is telling you something useful about how the rest of the job would go.
How long does it take to replace a roof
Shorter than most people expect for the work itself, and longer than most expect for the whole process.
For the crew on site, typical durations by material are: asphalt shingle 1 to 3 days, slate about 6 to 7 days, tile 6 to 12 days, concrete 8 to 9 days, and metal 7 to 14 days (Angi, July 2026). These are national figures. No California-specific duration data exists, and we would rather label that than imply a local number.
For a typical asphalt roof on a single-family house, one to three days on site is realistic. A survey of homeowners found 46 percent reported three to seven days start to finish, which reflects the fact that the roof itself is only part of it.
The full sequence usually runs: inspection and quote, then contract, then permit, then material ordering and delivery, then the tear-off and installation itself, then final inspection. The permit and the material lead time are what turn a three-day job into a three-week project, and they are also the two stages a contractor can tell you about honestly in advance.
Two things genuinely move the schedule here. Rain stops roofing, and a torn-off roof cannot be left open, so a crew will not start a tear-off they cannot dry in. And in high summer, work in the high desert often starts at first light and stops in the early afternoon, because a roof surface at midday in August is not a safe place to be. A contractor who plans around that is not being slow, they are being competent.
