How much do roofers make in Wisconsin in 2026?

The median roofer in Wisconsin earns $59,370 per year, which works out to about $28.54 an hour based on a standard 2,080-hour work year. That's the midpoint — half of roofers in the state earn more, half earn less. If you're just starting out or working on a smaller crew, the 25th percentile sits at $47,850 a year, or roughly $23.00 an hour. Experienced hands on larger commercial jobs push into the 75th percentile at $65,330 annually, about $31.41 an hour. All figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025.

The $17,480 spread between the bottom and top quartiles tells you something important: experience and the type of work you do matter a lot in this trade. Entry-level roofing in Wisconsin typically means residential tear-offs, shingle installs, and basic flashing work. That pays closer to the 25th percentile. Once you're handling flat roofing systems — TPO, EPDM, modified bitumen — or leading a crew on commercial and industrial projects, pay moves toward the upper quartile and sometimes beyond it.

Wisconsin's climate shapes roofing pay in ways that don't always show up in annual averages. The bulk of exterior roofing work runs from April through October. During those months, overtime is common, and 50- to 60-hour weeks are realistic on busy commercial jobs. That overtime pay can add meaningfully to your take-home without pushing your base hourly rate up at all. The BLS figures capture straight-time wages from employer payroll data; they don't separately track what individual workers net after overtime. If you're regularly logging extra hours during peak season, your actual annual earnings could run notably higher than the median figure suggests.

Geography within Wisconsin also shifts where you land in those percentile bands. The Milwaukee metro area, with its concentration of commercial construction, tends to pay at or above the state median. The Madison market has been active with institutional and multifamily work, which also supports stronger wages. In the Fox Valley, Wausau, and smaller northern markets, residential work dominates and pay more often falls near or below the median.

Your roofing type and material specialization are probably the single biggest levers on your pay. Shingle work is the most common entry point, but contractors who can install and certify standing-seam metal roofing, spray polyurethane foam, or low-slope membrane systems have a shorter supply of competition and can charge more — some of that flows to the workers doing the installs. If your employer is a manufacturer-certified contractor, they're often billing a premium on those jobs, and skilled workers who hold manufacturer certifications or can train others are worth more to them.

Some roofers in Wisconsin are covered by a collective bargaining agreement — check with your local for current rates, as those can differ from the BLS state averages shown here.

Wisconsin does not require a statewide roofing license for individual journeyworkers, but many municipalities and counties require contractor licensing, and some employers value or require OSHA 10 or OSHA 30 cards. First Aid/CPR certification is often expected on commercial sites. None of these directly translate to a pay bump by themselves, but they affect which jobs you can access — and the jobs that require more credentials tend to pay better.

To move your pay toward the 75th percentile, the practical path is building out your flat-roofing credentials, taking on foreman or lead responsibilities, and targeting commercial or industrial contractors over residential-only shops. Residential roofing has higher turnover and more price competition among contractors, which keeps wages tighter. Commercial and industrial contractors, especially those doing government or institutional work, run longer project timelines and need reliable, experienced workers — that stability tends to come with better base pay.

The numbers on this page reflect W-2 wages reported by employers. They don't include per diem, tool allowances, or the value of benefits like health insurance and retirement contributions, which vary widely by employer. Factor those in when you're comparing offers, because a job at $28.00 an hour with full benefits can easily be worth more than one at $31.00 an hour with none.