TradeSalary

Roofer salary in Santa Cruz, CA

Updated September 27, 2026 with BLS data from May 2025

Roofers in the Santa Cruz–Watsonville, CA area earn a median of $61,640 a year, or $29.64 an hour, according to May 2025 BLS data. The top 10% earn more than $75,630. Statewide, roofers earn a median of $63,600; Santa Cruz is 3% below it.

Median yearly pay$61,640
Bottom 10% under$48,200Top 10% over$75,630
Entry-level starting pay (estimate)
$23.17/hr
Jobs in this area
140
After cost of living
$56,090
Median hourly pay
$29.64/hr
vs U.S. median
+11%
vs California median
−3%
Mean (average) pay
$63,340 a year · $30.45 an hour
Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (area 42100, Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA). Excludes self-employed roofers. Cost of living: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024. *Starting pay is estimated from the 10th percentile; BLS does not report pay by license level.

Pay by percentile

What roofers in Santa Cruz, CA earn at each point of the pay range, May 2025: 10% earn less than the 10th percentile, half earn less than the median, and 10% earn more than the 90th.

PercentileHourlyYearly
10th percentile$23.17$48,200
25th percentile$27.47$57,130
Median (50th)$29.64$61,640
75th percentile$33.51$69,700
90th percentile$36.36$75,630

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. BLS yearly figures are the hourly wage times 2,080 hours.

How Santa Cruz, CA compares

  • Santa Cruz ranks 15th of 22 California metro areas for roofer pay.
  • Roofers are more concentrated in the Santa Cruz area than nationally: 1.4 of every 1,000 jobs, 1.6 times the U.S. share.

Other California metro areas

Other trades in Santa Cruz, CA

Questions

Do roofers make more in Santa Cruz or San Francisco?
San Francisco pays more: the median is $61,640 in Santa Cruz and $74,340 in San Francisco, a 17% difference.

About this data

Wages are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for May 2025, occupation 47-2181 (Roofers), area code 42100 (Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA). BLS counts wage and salary workers only, so self-employed roofers and business owners aren't included. The cost-of-living figure divides the median by the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity for 2024 (109.9, where the U.S. average is 100). Page updated September 27, 2026. How we calculate these figures