Home / Roof replacement cost / Worcester, MA
Worcester · Worcester County · labor +89.9%
Roof replacement cost in Worcester, MA
A 2,000 sq ft roof in architectural asphalt shingles comes to about $10,700 to $17,400 in Worcester once the national installed price is adjusted for what roofers earn locally. The city's fee schedule has no separate line for it, but its general residential rate puts the permit at $180 for a job at the midpoint.
Figures checked October 21, 2026 · sources
- 1Architectural, 2,000 sq ft $10,700–$17,400
- 2Labor index +89.9% vs US
- 3Worcester permit $180
Change size or material All Worcester projects
Roof replacement prices in Worcester 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 Worcester's labor index. For 2,000 sq ft:
| Material | National | Worcester | Midpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asphalt 3-tab shingles | $6,000–$10,000 | $8,700–$15,400 | $12,050 |
| Architectural asphalt shingles | $8,000–$12,000 | $10,700–$17,400 | $14,050 |
| Metal roofing | $10,000–$32,000 | $12,700–$37,400 | $25,050 |
By size
| Roof area (sq ft) | Worcester estimate | Permit at midpoint |
|---|---|---|
| 1,200 sq ft | $6,400–$10,450 | $108 |
| 1,500 sq ft | $8,000–$13,050 | $132 |
| 2,000 sq ft | $10,700–$17,400 | $180 |
| 2,500 sq ft | $13,350–$21,750 | $216 |
| 3,000 sq ft | $16,050–$26,100 | $264 |
Architectural asphalt shingles.
Permit fee in Worcester
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.
“$12.00 per $1,000.00 or fraction thereof of construction value”
“$9.00 per $1,000.00 over $1,000,000) Minimum $100.00”
Applied to a 2,000 sq ft roof estimated at $10,700 to $17,400, that gives $132 to $216, about 1.28% of the midpoint price. Among the 16 towns on this site whose schedules cover this work, Worcester ranks 14 from the cheapest; Bow is lowest at $40 and Hartford highest at $352.86 for its own midpoint job.
Schedule: City of Worcester, Department of Inspectional Services, Schedule of Fees (Building Permits) (effective March 1, 2024 (cover page)). The building department decides whether a permit is required and what valuation it accepts; the national guide puts roof permits at $100–$500.
Why Worcester differs from the national price
Worcester is in Worcester County, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics counts in the Worcester, MA metropolitan area. The median wage there for roofers is $50.61 an hour against $26.65 nationally, so the labor part of a national price is scaled by 1.899 (+89.9%). That is well above the Massachusetts statewide median of $34.98; area estimates for one trade rest on a small survey sample, so a Worcester 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 $5,700 to $11,400 at Worcester rates, so the midpoint rises $4,050 above the national figure. Against the Massachusetts statewide wage it is $2,650 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.
Worcester at a glance
The Census Bureau estimates 213,862 people lived in Worcester on July 1, 2025, up 3.6% from the 206,518 counted in the 2020 census. On 37.36 square miles of land that is 5,528 people per square mile in 2020, among the densest places on this site (3 of 24); dense Massachusetts city blocks mean small lots, shared walls and street parking that crews price into access and staging.
42.8% of Worcester's occupied homes are lived in by their owners, fewer than the 62.5% across Massachusetts, and the median owner-occupied home is valued at $374,400 (Massachusetts: $562,100). The midpoint estimate for this roof works out to 3.8% 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 Worcester's index it is $3,800 to $19,000 for 2,000 sq ft, on top of the estimate above.
Before asking for quotes
- The Worcester 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 $10,700 or above $17,400 is not wrong in itself, but it is worth asking what it includes or leaves out.
Other projects in Worcester
Siding replacement cost in Worcester · Deck building cost in Worcester
Roof replacement in nearby towns
| Town | Labor area | Estimate | Permit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | $8,600–$13,200 | $128.86 |
| Bow | Central NH | $8,350–$12,700 | $40 |
| Derry | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | $8,600–$13,200 | $89.43 |
| Durham | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | $8,600–$13,200 | $126.21 |
| Exeter | Boston-Cambridge-Newton | $8,600–$13,200 | $104.43 |
More: all roof replacement town pages · roof replacement cost in Massachusetts · 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: City of Worcester, Department of Inspectional Services, Schedule of Fees (Building Permits).
- Population: U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: population estimates July 1, 2025 (V2025), 2020 census, land area and density; housing: Census QuickFacts, Worcester.
All figures checked October 21, 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.