How much do roofers make in Colorado in 2026?

The median roofer in Colorado earns $51,750 a year, which works out to roughly $24.88 an hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That number sits in the middle of the pack — half of Colorado roofers earn more, half earn less. If you're trying to figure out where you stand or what to aim for, the full spread tells a more useful story.

At the 25th percentile, roofers in Colorado bring home $47,700 annually, or about $22.93 an hour. These are typically workers earlier in their careers, or those working for smaller contractors with less consistent year-round volume. At the 75th percentile, pay jumps to $61,150 a year — around $29.40 an hour. That's a gap of more than $13,000 between the bottom quarter and the top quarter, which is significant and worth understanding.

What drives workers from the lower end to the upper end? Experience is the biggest factor. A roofer who can work confidently on steep-slope residential, low-slope commercial, and specialty systems like metal roofing or TPO membranes is worth more to a contractor than someone limited to one roof type. Colorado's construction market includes a wide range of project types — from high-volume hail-damage residential re-roofing along the Front Range to commercial flat roofing in Denver and Colorado Springs to custom mountain homes in Summit or Eagle counties. Workers who can handle multiple materials and systems are harder to replace and easier to promote.

Colorado's geography also plays into earnings in a practical way. The Front Range corridor — Denver, Aurora, Lakewood, Fort Collins, Pueblo — has the heaviest concentration of roofing contractors and the most consistent workload. Wages in Denver metro tend to run toward the higher end of the state range, driven by higher project values and stronger competition for skilled labor. Rural and mountain areas can see seasonal gaps in work, which affects annual take-home even if the hourly rate is competitive.

Seasonality matters here more than in many other trades. Colorado's hail season runs roughly May through September, and roofing crews can log heavy overtime during that stretch. A roofer working 50- or 55-hour weeks during peak storm-damage season on an hourly rate of $25 will outpace the median annual figure well before the season ends — overtime pay at time-and-a-half adds up fast. The flip side is that winter months, especially at elevation, can mean reduced hours or layoffs for some crews. Annual earnings figures from BLS reflect average full-year employment and may not capture the peaks and valleys that individual workers experience.

Licensing in Colorado is handled at the local level rather than the state level — Denver, for example, requires a roofing contractor license, but the state itself does not issue a statewide roofer's license for individual workers. That said, OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 certifications are widely expected on commercial job sites, and workers who hold them are more employable and often command better pay. Fall protection competency is non-negotiable on any legitimate site.

Some workers may be covered by a collective bargaining agreement — check with your local for current rates.

The BLS OEWS figures used here are from May 2025. BLS data captures base wages and salaries but does not include employer-paid benefits like health insurance, retirement contributions, or paid time off. When comparing offers, factor those in — a job paying $24/hr with solid health coverage and a retirement match can be worth more than a $26/hr job with nothing else attached.

If you want to push your pay toward the 75th percentile and beyond, the clearest paths are: expand your material skills (metal, modified bitumen, TPO, tile), get comfortable on both residential and commercial, pursue foreman or crew lead roles, and work for contractors who consistently land larger commercial projects where the work is steadier and the pay scale is higher.