What re-roofs in Chicago, IL declared on their permits

In 2025, 761 re-roof permits in Chicago passed our filters. The middle half declared between $14,000 and $42,469, and the median was $23,200. The 2025 median of $23,200 sits above our guide range of $7,000 to $15,500.

Source: Building Permits, data.cityofchicago.org. Retrieved October 8, 2026. Latest permit in the extract: 2026-10-06.

Chicago, 2025: re-roof permits declared a median of $23,200; the middle half declared $14,000 to $42,469. Our guide range is $7,000 to $15,500.Our guide range $7,000 to $15,500median $23,200$14,000$42,469$0$10k$20k$30k$40k$50k
  • Middle half of permits
  • Median
  • Our guide range, 2,000 sq ft asphalt

Declared cost on the permit application is not the contract price. It is what the applicant wrote on the form. It can sit below the signed contract, and permits do not say how big the roof was. Read it as the spread of real jobs, not as a quote.

Year by year, 2006 to 2026

Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile of declared cost. The dark tick is the median. The grey band is our guide range, the national base, because we have no city index for Chicago.

Declared value of re-roof permits in Chicago by year: middle half of permits and the median, against our guide range $7,000 to $15,500Our guide range$0$10k$20k$30k$40k$50k20062006: middle half $4,000 to $10,863, median $6,472, 395 permitsn 39520072007: middle half $3,625 to $15,942, median $6,995, 414 permitsn 41420082008: middle half $4,500 to $13,323, median $7,372, 416 permitsn 41620092009: middle half $5,500 to $29,500, median $10,000, 425 permitsn 42520102010: middle half $7,000 to $20,000, median $11,588, 545 permitsn 54520112011: middle half $8,053 to $28,944, median $13,980, 658 permitsn 65820122012: middle half $9,000 to $29,797, median $14,167, 582 permitsn 58220132013: middle half $8,889 to $37,850, median $16,556, 486 permitsn 48620142014: middle half $10,881 to $36,681, median $18,000, 546 permitsn 54620152015: middle half $10,294 to $29,276, median $15,500, 679 permitsn 67920162016: middle half $8,500 to $39,521, median $16,200, 567 permitsn 56720172017: middle half $8,678 to $38,552, median $14,500, 617 permitsn 61720182018: middle half $10,135 to $27,000, median $14,328, 741 permitsn 74120192019: middle half $11,000 to $40,000, median $17,478, 577 permitsn 57720202020: middle half $10,000 to $42,662, median $20,000, 542 permitsn 54220212021: middle half $10,000 to $43,075, median $18,675, 582 permitsn 58220222022: middle half $10,000 to $45,414, median $20,054, 607 permitsn 60720232023: middle half $10,925 to $40,000, median $23,600, 607 permitsn 60720242024: middle half $15,686 to $45,416, median $24,686, 630 permitsn 63020252025: middle half $14,000 to $42,469, median $23,200, 761 permitsn 76120262026 so far: middle half $13,496 to $35,405, median $22,990, 784 permitsn 784*

* 2026 is not finished: the portal data runs to 2026-10-06.

Declared cost of re-roof permits
YearPermits25th pctMedian75th pct
2026*784$13,496$22,990$35,405
2025761$14,000$23,200$42,469
2024630$15,686$24,686$45,416
2023607$10,925$23,600$40,000
2022607$10,000$20,054$45,414
2021582$10,000$18,675$43,075
2020542$10,000$20,000$42,662
2019577$11,000$17,478$40,000
2018741$10,135$14,328$27,000
2017617$8,678$14,500$38,552
2016567$8,500$16,200$39,521
2015679$10,294$15,500$29,276
2014546$10,881$18,000$36,681
2013486$8,889$16,556$37,850
2012582$9,000$14,167$29,797
2011658$8,053$13,980$28,944
2010545$7,000$11,588$20,000
2009425$5,500$10,000$29,500
2008416$4,500$7,372$13,323
2007414$3,625$6,995$15,942
2006395$4,000$6,472$10,863

Against our price guide

The 2025 median of $23,200 sits above our guide range of $7,000 to $15,500. A median above our range usually points to bigger or more complex roofs in the sample, not to a mistake in either figure. Chicago's file has no residential flag, so it includes small commercial roofs.

FigureLowTypicalHigh
Chicago permits, 2025 (25th pct, median, 75th pct)$14,000$23,200$42,469
Our guide, 2,000 sq ft asphalt, national base (no city index)$7,000–$15,500

What the permit file says

  • In 2025, Chicago issued 761 re-roof permits that passed our filters.
  • Half of them declared between $14,000 and $42,469.
  • The median declared value in 2025 was $23,200.
  • The top quarter of permits declared $42,469 or more, 3.0 times the figure for the bottom quarter ($14,000 or less).
  • Across all published years the file holds 12,161 permits for Chicago.
  • The busiest published year was 2026 with 784 permits (the year is not finished).
  • The portal is Building Permits on data.cityofchicago.org; the city updated it on October 7, 2026.
  • The latest permit in the extract was issued on October 6, 2026.
  • 17 percent of the permit rows matching a roof word survived our filters (70,300 matches, 12,161 kept).
  • Our guide range for a 2,000 sq ft asphalt roof is $7,000 to $15,500 (national base; we have no city index for Chicago).
  • The median moved from $6,472 in 2006 to $23,200 in 2025, up 258 percent.
  • 2026 so far: 784 permits, median $22,990 (data through October 6, 2026).

Scope in this city: all building types (no residential flag in the dataset); cost cap applied.

How we counted

We took every permit row whose description matches a re-roof pattern, dropped rows about repairs, solar panels, additions, new buildings and other trades, kept declared costs from $1,000 to $150,000, and counted each permit number once. 70,300 rows matched a roof word and 12,161 remained (17 percent). The classifier is approximate: some re-roofs bundled with other work are excluded, and a few mislabelled rows remain. A year appears only with at least 30 permits.

Data: Building Permits (data.cityofchicago.org). City of Chicago License: See Terms of Use.

Questions

What did re-roof permits in Chicago declare in 2025?

761 permits passed our filters. The median declared value was $23,200, and half of the permits declared $14,000 to $42,469.

Is the permit value what the roofer charged?

Not necessarily. The value is the cost the applicant declared on the permit application. It can differ from the signed contract, and it is not an invoice. Use it to see the spread of real jobs, and get written quotes for your own roof.

How does this compare with your cost guide for Chicago?

The 2025 median of $23,200 sits above our guide range of $7,000 to $15,500. A median above our range usually points to bigger or more complex roofs in the sample, not to a mistake in either figure. Chicago's file has no residential flag, so it includes small commercial roofs.

Where does the data come from?

From the city's open-data portal, Building Permits (data.cityofchicago.org, dataset ydr8-5enu), retrieved October 8, 2026. We keep permits with a re-roof description, drop repairs, solar, additions and new builds, keep declared values between $1,000 and $150,000, and count each permit number once.

Why are some years missing?

We publish a year only when it has at least 30 permits after filtering, and the current year is marked as partial until the portal has data past mid-December.

Planning a re-roof in Chicago? Describe the job once and we send it to one local roofer, not five.

Start an inspection request

Other cities

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