Average Roofing Business Owner Salary: What Roofing Industry Data Actually Shows
Syntech Roofing & Waterproofing compiled and analyzed data from government business datasets, federal wage estimates, and niche roofing-industry research to examine the question, “How much does a roofing business owner make?”
The major government and industry sources reviewed do not provide an authoritative current national average for roofing business owner salary. The analysis therefore separates direct historical owner-salary evidence from employee wages, business receipts, payroll, company size, geography, and contractor business models.
This analysis distills the available evidence into four core data tables covering salary benchmarks, geographic roofing-market economics, commercial versus residential business models, and roofing-contractor operating scale.
Salary evidence and benchmark definitions
| Benchmark | Reported Figure | Year & Geography | What It Measures | How To Use It |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roofing company president or owner | $84,000 median salary | 2006, U.S. | Direct owner-salary survey | Historical context only, not a current average |
| All occupations in roofing contractors | $61,340 mean annual wage | May 2023, U.S. | Average employee wages across NAICS 238160 | Broad employee-wage benchmark |
| Roofers employed by roofing contractors | $55,550 mean annual wage | May 2023, U.S. | Wages for the roofer occupation within roofing-contractor establishments | Field-labor benchmark, not owner compensation |
| General and operations managers in roofing contractors | $108,430 mean annual wage | May 2023, U.S. | Wages for operational management employees | Management replacement-cost context |
| Construction managers in roofing contractors | $110,800 mean annual wage | May 2023, U.S. | Wages for construction-management employees | Project-management labor benchmark |
The most directly relevant owner-salary figure identified in the sources reviewed is historical, not current. The $84,000 figure comes from a historical trade-publication survey with a 6% response rate. The BLS figures are industry-specific employee wage estimates. BLS wage data does not isolate business owners, owner distributions, retained earnings, or the value of unpaid owner labor.
Major key insights
The only direct owner-salary figure identified in the sources reviewed is historical, not current. The $84,000 median from 2006 can show that an owner-salary survey existed, but its age and low response rate prevent it from serving as a current national benchmark.
Employee wages cannot be relabeled as owner compensation. The $55,550 mean wage for roofers and the more than $108,000 mean wages for construction and general operations managers describe employees working in roofing-contractor establishments. They can provide labor-market context, but they do not measure owner salary, distributions, or profit.
The compensation concept changes depending on the owner’s role. An owner who still estimates projects, manages crews, handles sales, and responds to leaks may receive compensation through a combination of salary, distributions, and retained business earnings. That structure is not captured by a single employee-wage statistic.
Geographic differences in the roofing-contractor market
Geographic markets can differ in customer base, competition, labor conditions, operating costs, and the number of roofing businesses serving them.
The U.S. and California rows below use the 2022 Census Statistics of U.S. Businesses dataset for NAICS 238160. Riverside and San Bernardino County rows use the 2023 Census County Business Patterns file. Because the datasets use different years and coverage structures, the figures should be read as geographic indicators, not as one perfectly comparable time series.
| Geography | Source and Year | Employer Firms | Employer Establishments | Roofing-Contractor Receipts | Geographic Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | SUSB, 2022 | 24,044 | 24,532 | $68.78 billion | National employer-firm baseline |
| California | SUSB, 2022 | 2,775 | 2,795 | $6.00 billion | Approximately 11.5% of U.S. employer firms and 8.7% of reported U.S. receipts* |
| Riverside County | CBP, 2023 | Not reported in this table | 186 | Not reported in CBP county file | Local employer-establishment footprint |
| San Bernardino County | CBP, 2023 | Not reported in this table | 165 | Not reported in CBP county file | Local employer-establishment footprint |
| Riverside and San Bernardino combined | CBP, 2023 | Not reported in this table | 351 | Not reported in CBP county file | Combined Inland Empire county footprint |
Shares are calculated from the published SUSB values. California receipts represent approximately 8.7% of the U.S. total in this dataset. The California, Riverside, and San Bernardino figures should not be interpreted as current owner income.
Major key insights
California represents a substantial share of the national roofing-contractor market. The state accounted for 2,775 employer firms, 2,795 establishments, and approximately $6.00 billion in reported roofing-contractor receipts in the 2022 SUSB data. That equals approximately 11.5% of U.S. employer firms and 8.7% of reported U.S. receipts.
The Inland Empire has a measurable local employer footprint. Riverside County had 186 roofing-contractor establishments in the 2023 CBP data, while San Bernardino County had 165. Those establishment counts show local market presence, but the county-level CBP data used here does not establish local owner salaries, profitability, or receipts.
Market size does not determine individual owner income. A larger geographic market may support more contractors and more commercial work, but owner compensation still depends on company structure, project mix, costs, pricing, profitability, and the owner’s operating role. The geographic data describes market opportunity, not personal income.
Commercial versus residential roofing business models
Roofing contractors classified under the same industry code can operate very differently. A residential replacement company, a commercial low-slope contractor, and a mixed contractor may have different sales cycles, project sizes, labor requirements, warranty obligations, and management structures.
The 2026 Roofing Contractor industry survey classified respondents according to whether more than half of their revenue came from residential or commercial projects. The survey consisted of roofing contractors who subscribed to Roofing Contractor or were registered on its website. It is useful for describing industry mix, but it is not a government census and should not be treated as a representative estimate of all roofing companies.
| Contractor Orientation | Share of Survey Respondents | Classification or Market Signal | Reported Product and Revenue Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential-dominant | 69% | More than half of revenue from residential projects | Asphalt shingles were involved in by approximately 80% of residential contractors; shingles represented an average 22% of residential sales |
| Commercial-dominant | 22% | More than half of revenue from commercial projects | Single-ply systems were identified by 80%, low-slope asphalt by 77%, and metal roofing by 75% of commercial contractors |
| Mixed | 9% | Neither residential nor commercial work represented more than half of revenue | No separate product-revenue profile was published for the mixed group |
| Commercial product mix | Commercial subset | Product categories contributing to commercial activity | Single-ply represented an average 28% of commercial-contractor revenue and metal represented 15% |
| Commercial membrane mix | Commercial subset | Frequently identified chief product category | TPO was identified as the chief product category by 37% of respondents, PVC by 28%, and EPDM by 24% |
Major key insights
The survey describes a predominantly residential respondent base, not a universal roofing-business profile. Residential-dominant contractors represented 69% of respondents, compared with 22% commercial and 9% mixed. Findings from this survey should therefore be interpreted in light of its predominantly residential respondent base.
Commercial respondents reported high involvement in single-ply, low-slope asphalt, and metal roofing systems. Those categories were identified by 80%, 77%, and 75% of commercial respondents, respectively. Single-ply also represented an average 28% of commercial-contractor revenue, while metal represented 15%.
The available survey does not prove that commercial owners earn more than residential owners. It shows different service and product mixes, which may affect sales cycles, labor requirements, project management, working capital, and warranty exposure. It does not provide reliable owner-compensation data for comparing the two groups.
Roofing-contractor operating scale by enterprise size
Company scale is one of the clearest observable differences between roofing businesses. The Census Bureau’s 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses data for NAICS 238160 reports firms, establishments, paid employees, annual payroll, and receipts by enterprise employment-size category.
The table below groups the published size categories into broader bands. The 500-plus row is calculated as the total minus the published under-500 total because some individual large-enterprise cells are subject to disclosure treatment.
| Enterprise Employment-Size Band | Firms | Share of Firms | Establishments | Paid Employees | Share of Employment | Annual Payroll | Receipts | Payroll per Employee* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fewer than 5 employees | 15,714 | 65.4% | 15,716 | 23,628 | 11.5% | $1.43B | $9.76B | $60,381 |
| 5 to 9 employees | 3,792 | 15.8% | 3,793 | 24,911 | 12.2% | $1.31B | $8.21B | $52,782 |
| 10 to 19 employees | 2,328 | 9.7% | 2,334 | 31,342 | 15.3% | $1.85B | $9.93B | $59,183 |
| 20 to 99 employees | 1,976 | 8.2% | 2,117 | 76,608 | 37.4% | $5.11B | $24.79B | $66,694 |
| 100 to 499 employees | 216 | 0.9% | 456 | 33,777 | 16.5% | $2.48B | $11.21B | $73,531 |
| 500 or more employees | 18 | 0.1% | 116 | 14,732 | 7.2% | $1.11B | $4.89B | $75,462 |
| Total | 24,044 | 100.0% | 24,532 | 204,998 | 100.0% | $13.30B | $68.78B | $64,884 |
Payroll per employee is calculated from Census annual payroll and paid employment. It is an employee-payroll measure, not owner salary, owner profit, or owner take-home income.
Major key insights
Roofing contractors vary substantially by enterprise size. Firms with fewer than five paid employees represented 65.4% of employer firms, while firms with 20 to 99 employees represented only 8.2% of firms but accounted for 37.4% of paid employment. These differences help explain why a single industry-wide owner-salary average would risk obscuring materially different business structures.
Payroll and workforce scale provide business context, not an owner-income calculation. Payroll per employee ranged from approximately $52,782 among firms with 5 to 9 employees to $75,462 among firms with 500 or more employees. These figures reflect employee payroll divided by reported paid employment and may vary with job mix, geography, seasonality, benefits, and management structure.
Receipts do not equal profit or owner compensation. The table reports $68.78 billion in total roofing-contractor receipts and $13.30 billion in annual payroll, but receipts can include materials, subcontracted work, and other pass-through costs. The data cannot show how owners receive compensation through salary, distributions, retained earnings, or other forms of income.
Frequently Asked Questions About Roofing Business Owner Salary
How much does a roofing business owner make?
The major government and industry sources reviewed do not provide an authoritative current national average for roofing business owner salary.
The most directly relevant owner-salary figure identified in the sources reviewed is the $84,000 median reported by a 2006 Roofing Contractor survey. Because the survey had a 6% response rate and is nearly two decades old, it should be treated as historical context rather than a current benchmark.
More recent BLS figures describe employee wages in roofing-contractor establishments, not owner compensation. A roofing business owner may receive salary, distributions, benefits, retained earnings, or some combination of these forms of income.
What influences a roofing business owner’s compensation?
Compensation can vary with company scale, commercial or residential focus, service mix, payroll obligations, profitability, legal structure, and the owner’s role in daily operations.
A small owner-operated firm may require the owner to handle sales, estimating, scheduling, collections, hiring, and field supervision. A larger commercial contractor may have more receipts but also more employees, managers, equipment, insurance, warranty obligations, and working-capital demands.
The available data supports these as important business-economic factors, but it does not support converting any one factor into a standard owner-salary formula.
Do commercial roofing business owners make more than residential roofing business owners?
The available evidence does not establish that commercial roofing owners earn more.
The 2026 industry survey shows that commercial and residential contractors operate with different product mixes. Commercial respondents reported high involvement in single-ply, low-slope asphalt, and metal roofing, while residential respondents were more strongly associated with asphalt shingles.
Those differences may affect project size, sales cycles, staffing, equipment, documentation, and working capital. They do not prove a difference in owner compensation because the survey does not provide reliable, comparable owner-salary data for the two groups.
Does higher roofing-company revenue mean a higher owner salary?
Not necessarily. Higher receipts or revenue do not automatically translate into higher owner compensation.
Roofing receipts may include materials, subcontracted labor, equipment, mobilization, insurance, warranty costs, and other operating expenses. A company with higher revenue may also have substantially higher payroll, overhead, and working-capital requirements
Owner compensation depends on what remains after business costs, how the company is structured, how much profit is distributed, and what role the owner performs. Revenue should therefore be treated as a measure of operating scale, not as a direct salary estimate.
Conclusion
The major government and industry sources reviewed do not provide an authoritative current national average roofing business owner salary. The available evidence instead shows that compensation varies with enterprise size, service mix, geography, payroll, receipts, profitability, business structure, and the owner’s role.
For Syntech’s Southern California commercial building-envelope context, that distinction matters. A small general roofing business and a commercial contractor handling complex occupied-building and building-envelope work may have very different operating models, even when both are classified as roofing contractors.
Dealing with a commercial roof leak, coating, or waterproofing issue? Book a Site Visit with Syntech to identify the problem and review practical repair options for your Southern California property.
