Home / Roof replacement cost / Salem, NH
Salem · Rockingham County · labor +19.7%
Roof replacement cost in Salem, NH
A 2,000 sq ft roof in architectural asphalt shingles comes to about $8,600 to $13,200 in Salem once the national installed price is adjusted for what roofers earn locally. The town's fee schedule has no separate line for it, but its general residential rate puts the permit at $100 for a job at the midpoint.
Figures checked October 20, 2026 · sources
- 1Architectural, 2,000 sq ft $8,600–$13,200
- 2Labor index +19.7% vs US
- 3Salem permit $100
Change size or material All Salem projects
Roof replacement prices in Salem by material
Each row starts from the installed price per square foot of roof published in a national cost guide, then moves only the labor part of that price by Salem's labor index. For 2,000 sq ft:
| Material | National | Salem | Midpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asphalt 3-tab shingles | $6,000–$10,000 | $6,600–$11,200 | $8,900 |
| Architectural asphalt shingles | $8,000–$12,000 | $8,600–$13,200 | $10,900 |
| Metal roofing | $10,000–$32,000 | $10,600–$33,200 | $21,900 |
By size
| Roof area (sq ft) | Salem estimate | Permit at midpoint |
|---|---|---|
| 1,200 sq ft | $5,150–$7,900 | $100 |
| 1,500 sq ft | $6,450–$9,900 | $100 |
| 2,000 sq ft | $8,600–$13,200 | $100 |
| 2,500 sq ft | $10,750–$16,500 | $100 |
| 3,000 sq ft | $12,900–$19,750 | $106.14 |
Architectural asphalt shingles.
Permit fee in Salem
General rate The fee schedule has no separate line for this work; the town's general residential building-permit rate is shown as what it would charge if the building department requires a permit for it.
“Additions/Alterations $6.50 Per thousand of construction value”
“RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMIT FEES (Min $100)”
Applied to a 2,000 sq ft roof estimated at $8,600 to $13,200, that gives $100 to $100, about 0.92% of the midpoint price. Among the 11 towns on this site whose schedules cover this work, Salem ranks 4 from the cheapest; Bow is lowest at $40 and Lebanon highest at $148.05 for its own midpoint job.
Schedule: Salem Fire Department, Inspectional Services, Permit Schedule (effective 1/1/2025, adopted 10/2024). The building department decides whether a permit is required and what valuation it accepts; the national guide puts roof permits at $100–$500.
Why Salem differs from the national price
Salem is in Rockingham County, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH metropolitan area (mostly Massachusetts). The median wage there for roofers is $31.90 an hour against $26.65 nationally, so the labor part of a national price is scaled by 1.197 (+19.7%). That area is mostly Massachusetts; the New Hampshire statewide median for the same trade is $28.76, so a Salem quote may land nearer the low end of the range shown.
On this job the labor portion is $3,000 to $6,000 at national rates and $3,600 to $7,200 at Salem rates, so the midpoint rises $890 above the national figure. Against the New Hampshire statewide wage it is $530 higher. Materials are priced at the national figure: shingle, lumber and equipment prices are set by distributors, not by a town.
A second published benchmark points the same way for the region: Remodeling's 2025 Cost vs Value report prices its “Roofing Replacement, Asphalt Shingles” job at $31,850 nationally and $35,700 in New England, and its “Roofing Replacement, Metal” job at $51,850 nationally and $56,300 in New England. Those are fixed specification jobs, not per-square-foot prices, so they are shown for comparison only.
Salem at a glance
Salem had 31,588 residents in the state's 2025 estimate, up 9.8% from 28,776 in 2010, faster than the state's 7.5% over the same years. At 1,276 people per square mile it is one of the most built-up places on this site (3 of 19 by density), so crews often work on tight lots with neighbours close by.
75.6% of Salem's occupied homes are lived in by their owners, more than the 72.8% statewide, and the median owner-occupied home is valued at $473,300 (New Hampshire: $402,500). The midpoint estimate for this roof works out to 2.3% of that median value.
Taking off the old roof
Tear off the old roof adds $1 to $5 per sq ft nationally (“The cost to tear off a roof is $1 to $5 per square foot for labor to remove the old material”). That work is all labor, so at Salem's index it is $2,400 to $11,950 for 2,000 sq ft, on top of the estimate above.
Before asking for quotes
- The Salem building department can say for free whether this job needs a permit and what it will cost; the schedule linked above is its own published document.
- Written quotes that list the same scope (area, material line, removal, disposal, permit) can be compared line by line; the quote comparison guide walks through it with these numbers.
- A quote far below $8,600 or above $13,200 is not wrong in itself, but it is worth asking what it includes or leaves out.
Other projects in Salem
Siding replacement cost in Salem · Deck building cost in Salem · Heat pump installation cost in Salem
Roof replacement in nearby towns
| Town | Labor area | Estimate | Permit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durham | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | $8,600–$13,200 | $126.21 |
| Exeter | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | $8,600–$13,200 | $104.43 |
| Londonderry | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | $8,600–$13,200 | $112.09 |
| Portsmouth | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | $8,600–$13,200 | $90 |
| Rochester | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | $8,600–$13,200 | $109 |
More: all roof replacement town pages · permit fees by town · labor costs in New Hampshire
Sources
- Installed price: HomeGuide: Roof replacement cost (Nov 7, 2025) — “architectural $4 – $6 (cost to reshingle, per sq ft)”.
- Labor portion: HomeGuide: Roof replacement cost (Nov 7, 2025) — “Roofing labor costs $1.50 to $3.00 per square foot or $150 to $300 per square on average”.
- Labor index: O*NET OnLine, Roofers (47-2181.00), New Hampshire local wages; area definitions: BLS, May 2025 Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Area Definitions.
- Permit: Salem Fire Department, Inspectional Services, Permit Schedule.
- Population: NH Office of Planning and Development, 2025 Population Estimates of New Hampshire Cities and Towns (published July 17, 2026); housing: Census QuickFacts, Salem.
All figures checked October 20, 2026. Estimates are ranges built from published averages, not quotes; a contractor's price depends on the house, access, the season and the scope written into the quote. Cost by Town does not perform or arrange work.