What re-roof permits declared in 5 US cities

City building departments publish every permit. We filtered the re-roof ones in San Francisco, Rockford, Chicago, Baton Rouge, Cambridge, counted 122,743 permits, and put the cost people declared on a single dollar axis, next to our price guide.

Retrieved October 8, 2026 from the cities’ own open-data portals. Declared cost is not the contract price.

Declared value of re-roof permits in San Francisco, Rockford, Chicago, Baton Rouge, Cambridge: middle half of permits and the median$0$10k$20k$30k$40k$50kSan Francisco2025, n 3,107Our guide range for San Francisco: $7,000 to $15,500San Francisco 2025: middle half $10,800 to $20,000, median $15,000$15,000Rockford2025, n 789Our guide range for Rockford: $6,790 to $15,035Rockford 2025: middle half $10,000 to $17,829, median $12,680$12,680Chicago2025, n 761Our guide range for Chicago: $7,000 to $15,500Chicago 2025: middle half $14,000 to $42,469, median $23,200$23,200Baton Rouge2025, n 393Our guide range for Baton Rouge: $7,000 to $15,500Baton Rouge 2025: middle half $13,994 to $27,659, median $19,780$19,780Cambridge2025, n 162Our guide range for Cambridge: $7,000 to $15,500Cambridge 2025: middle half $9,652 to $22,344, median $15,125$15,125
  • Middle half of permits, latest full year
  • Median
  • Our guide range for that city

City by city

CityYearPermitsMedian declaredMiddle halfOur guide rangeMedian vs guide
San Francisco, CA20253,107 $15,000$10,800 to $20,000$7,000 to $15,500 Inside
Rockford, IL2025789 $12,680$10,000 to $17,829$6,790 to $15,035 Inside
Chicago, IL2025761 $23,200$14,000 to $42,469$7,000 to $15,500 Above
Baton Rouge, LA2025393 $19,780$13,994 to $27,659$7,000 to $15,500 Above
Cambridge, MA2025162 $15,125$9,652 to $22,344$7,000 to $15,500 Inside

Declared cost on the permit application is not the contract price. It is what the applicant wrote on the form, and permits do not record roof size. Cities also differ in what they ask for: Chicago’s file has no residential flag and includes small commercial roofs.

Why only 5 cities

A city gets a page only when its latest full year holds at least 100 re-roof permits with a declared cost, the portal has a recent permit, and the data supports price statements. The others we checked did not pass:

  • Kansas City, MO: its latest full year has only 65 permits.
  • Los Angeles, CA: its portal data does not support price claims.
  • Dallas, TX: the portal extract ends in August 2020.

Our guide range is for a 2,000 sq ft asphalt roof; where we have no city cost index we show the national base.

Want a price for your own roof? Describe it once and one local roofer answers.

See how we price a roof

Information, not a quote or professional advice. Permit data belongs to each city and is shown as published.