What a Michigan roof replacement costs: what we can show and what we can't

The estimate, and the number we do not have

Our estimate for replacing a whole roof in Michigan, tear-off included, is $6,225 to $15,400 per roof, tear-off included, which works out to $275 to $740 per square (100 square feet), installed. It is a model and not a quote. We take 2 published national cost ranges (cost guides from third-party sites that we have not verified, so we do not cite them), multiply them by Michigan’s roofer wage ratio to the US (1.07, from the BLS median wages below) and add a typical permit fee of $100, the median of four published city fee schedules. The per-square figure comes from one range, widened by 15 percent each side because one source cannot show spread.

The number we do not have is a Michigan company price. We looked for prices on the websites of 27 Michigan roofing companies and found no regular dollar price for a repair, an inspection or a replacement, so there is nothing local to hold the estimate against and the band is wide. Roof size moves it most: the roof-size estimator in the repair or replace tool turns a footprint and a pitch into squares. We have not collected quotes, and we will show a count and a date for any company prices we do collect. The full method is on our editorial policy page.

What roofers are paid, which is not what you are charged

The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts roofers (occupation code 47-2181) and publishes the pay by metro area. The May 2025 figures come through O*NET OnLine, which republishes them; the BLS pages themselves were not available to confirm them. We could not check each figure against the BLS table itself, so treat the rows as unconfirmed and check them with the BLS if the number matters to you. These are wages paid to workers. They do not include materials, the company’s overhead, insurance, the dump fee or profit, so you cannot turn a wage into a roof price.

Area	Median per hour	Median per year	25th to 75th percentile per hour	Confidence
Michigan, roofers	$28.62	$59,530	$23.02 to $37.56	medium
Michigan, roofer helpers	$20.07	$41,750	$18.50 to $23.86	medium
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn	$30.48	$63,390	$23.60 to $37.97	medium
Ann Arbor	$29.68	$61,730	$22.75 to $44.17	medium
Kalamazoo-Portage	$28.50	$59,280	$22.70 to $35.93	medium
Saginaw	$27.55	$57,300	$21.96 to $34.30	medium
Flint	$34.02	$70,760	$22.00 to $34.02	medium
Lansing-East Lansing	$24.25	$50,440	$23.22 to $30.58	medium
Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood	$23.86	$49,630	$22.41 to $30.24	medium
Upper Peninsula, nonmetropolitan	$22.20	$46,180	$18.39 to $23.46	medium

Source for every row: BLS May 2025 wage data, read through O*NET OnLine. The rows are medians and percentiles only, with no employment counts, and the Flint row prints the median at the top of its own range exactly as the source gives it. A metro with a higher wage does not mean a higher roof price, and a lower wage does not mean a cheaper one.

Permit fees in the research cities

The permit fee is a small and checkable part of the bill. These are the amounts printed on city pages and forms, with the same caveat as always: a fee schedule can be revised, and the department’s current page wins. Our roof permit guide explains who needs one and where.

City	Fee as printed	Confidence
Grand Rapids	$66 residential re-roofing	high
Sterling Heights	$78 roof or re-roof, plus a $56 application fee	high
East Lansing	$60 application fee, $140 residential	high
Farmington Hills	$100 for the first $1,000 of value, then $9 per $1,000	high
Saginaw	$75 for the first $1,000, then $13 per added $1,000	high
Lincoln Park	$115 for the first $1,000, then $10 per $1,000	high
Midland	Valuation is squares times $300; the table starts at $78 for $1 to $1,000, then $10 per $1,000	high
Kalamazoo	$52 for re-roofing	medium

Midland’s rule shows how a fee can track roof size: a square is a roofing unit of area, so the valuation and the fee rise with the number of squares. Rochester Hills lists a $100 application fee plus plan review, and East Lansing says it is unclear whether its $140 includes the $60 application fee, which is why the table prints both as the page does.

What drives a roofing bill

Roof size comes first, since material and labor both scale with the area, and the number of squares is what Midland multiplies. The rest is what the code and the city pages let us say without guessing.

Tear-off is required. The 2015 Michigan Residential Code (the edition LARA lists as of Oct 19, 2026; check LARA, because it may change) says roof replacement includes removing the existing layers of roof covering down to the deck. So a quote that skips the tear-off is describing a re-cover, which the code bars in certain cases that we describe in how many layers of shingles Michigan allows.

An ice barrier is part of the work along the eaves. Michigan’s table calls for one, and the base code text runs it from the eave edge to at least 24 inches inside the exterior wall line, with at least 36 inches measured along the slope on pitches of 8:12 or steeper. We found no Michigan amendment to that text, so confirm it with your building department. The code does not call for the whole roof, and metal panels are a separate question, so a line item for “ice and water shield everywhere” is the contractor’s choice.

Deck repair is the open-ended item. Portage says a permit is required if more than four sheets of decking are replaced, and Rochester Hills requires an open roof inspection at an extra fee if more than 10 percent of the sheathing is replaced. Neither number tells you what a sheet costs, only where the paperwork changes, and a fair quote says how deck repair will be priced if the tear-off uncovers rot.

Flashing is the other open item. The code says existing flashings and vents that are part of the assembly shall be replaced where rusted, damaged or deteriorated, so ask which are included. The permit and its inspections, as in the table above, are the last item.

Insurance, depreciation and code upgrades

If a storm did the damage, how your policy pays shapes what you spend. DIFS says that when hail and high winds lift shingles, a homeowners policy covers only the damaged portion of the roof and the insurer is not required to replace all of it. Whether your policy pays replacement cost or actual cash value matters too: DIFS defines replacement cost as the cost to replace with materials of the same kind and quality, and actual cash value as that replacement cost at the time of loss minus depreciation.

Then there is code. DIFS says ordinance and law coverage pays when a home cannot be rebuilt to its original condition because of changes in the local building codes, that the insurer will not pay for upgrades without it, and that the standard limit is 10 percent of dwelling coverage. Read your declarations page for it. For a claim, the order of steps is in our insurance claim guide. DIFS also says you have the right to choose your own contractor, and that an insurer may recommend contractors.

Tax credits

The federal energy efficiency credit under section 25C ended for property placed in service after December 31, 2025. The IRS pages we cite do not list roofs, so we know of no federal roof credit here and will not suggest one.

Comparing written quotes

Ask each company for a written quote on the same scope. The quote should state the tear-off, the ice barrier and where it ends, the underlayment, the flashing it replaces, how it prices deck repair, who pulls the permit and whether the permit fee is in the price, and how it disposes of the old roofing. Under MCL 570.1114 a contractor has no construction lien on a residential structure unless the work is under a written contract that states the license requirement and the contractor’s license number, and work of $600 or more needs a roofing license, which you can check on LARA. Ask what is excluded as well as what is included, and be wary of a quote that is a single number with no scope.

A lower total is only lower if the scope is the same, so put the quotes side by side.