Local market data · Roofers · Chicago
AI for roofers in Chicago
The Chicago metro area had 760 roofers in 2022, the 2nd most of 379 US metros and 3% of all in the country. They employed 5,128 people at an average of $84,736 a year. 84% have fewer than 10 staff, so the same few people answer the phone, book, follow up and do the paperwork. Those are the jobs AI tools take on today.
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Roofers in Chicago vs the US
| Chicago metro | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses | 760 | 24,532 |
| People employed | 5,128 | 204,998 |
| Average staff per business | 6.7 | 8.4 |
| Average yearly pay per employee | $84,736 | $64,884 |
| Share with fewer than 10 staff | 84% | 80% |
Pay here is 31% higher than the national average for roofers, so every hour of staff time costs more to spend on admin. The average roofer here has 6.7 people on payroll, 19% lower than the US figure of 8.4.
How big roofers in Chicago are
Businesses with paid employees, by number of employees, March 2022.
Roofers by county in the Chicago area
Cook County has the most, with 352 of the metro's 760 (46%). Among the 10 big metros on this page, Chicago ranks 1st for average pay and 3rd for the share of small firms.
| County | Businesses | Employees | Avg pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cook County | 352 | 2,106 | $86,267 |
| DuPage County | 112 | 862 | $74,480 |
| Lake County | 68 | 336 | $74,491 |
| Will County | 67 | 539 | $94,868 |
| Kane County | 51 | 501 | $95,405 |
| McHenry County | 47 | 223 | $88,821 |
| Lake County | 32 | 434 | $79,127 |
| Kendall County | 12 | 27 | $78,815 |
| DeKalb County | 7 | 59 | $78,169 |
| Porter County | 6 | 25 | $64,120 |
| Grundy County | 4 | 15 | $145,533 |
Census withholds pay where few firms would make it identifiable.
Where AI helps a roofer first
Roofers should automate three things first: answering every call and text, following up on every estimate, and asking for a review when a job closes. Those are the places a roofing company loses work quietly while the crew is up on a roof. Westward builds these for roofers, and a person approves anything that goes out.
What your team's admin hours cost in Chicago
Change any number. The starting values are the Chicago averages above; the hours and the share are yours to set.
Those hours cost you$114,800 a year
The share you would hand off$34,440 a year
Hours your team gets back840 a year
See what we would build for thisGuides for roofers, one job each
- Get more customers for roofers
- Never miss a call for roofers
- Follow up automatically for roofers
- Booking and scheduling for roofers
- More reviews for roofers
- Marketing and content for roofers
- Show up on Google and ChatGPT for roofers
- Cut admin and paperwork for roofers
- A dashboard that runs itself for roofers
Roofers in other big metros
| Metro | Businesses | Avg pay | Rank of 387 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 706 | $61,665 | 3rd |
| New York | 634 | $72,612 | 4th |
| Miami | 526 | $50,737 | 6th |
| Dallas | 866 | $66,731 | 1st |
| Houston | 467 | $71,425 | 9th |
| Atlanta | 530 | $66,473 | 5th |
| Washington | 374 | $70,736 | 11th |
| Philadelphia | 412 | $72,349 | 10th |
| Boston | 297 | $80,164 | 17th |
Where these numbers come from
From the U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (released 2024), industry code NAICS 238160 (Roofing contractors), for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN metro area (13 counties). It counts businesses with paid employees in March 2022, so solo owners with no payroll are not in it. Average pay is total yearly payroll divided by employees. The calculator uses 50 working weeks and 2,080 hours a year. Page checked 2026-11-12.
Find the hours your roofing company can get back
A free 30-minute call. You leave knowing which part of your roofer to hand to AI first, what we would build, and roughly how long it takes.