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How long does a roof last?

Asphalt shingle roofs get a standard life of 20 years in the Family column of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) planning table, a figure for multifamily properties and not a measured life of a house's roof (structured on the ASTM E2018-08 outline, no issue date, read 2026-10-17, national, multifamily, n not published by the source).

Source: HUD CNA e-Tool EUL table, read 17 October 2026.

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Our own share, from the public microdata of the 2023 American Housing Survey (AHS), with the U.S. Census Bureau as the source of the original data: 9.6% of US owner-occupied homes had a job coded “Added or replaced roofing” in the two years before their 2023 interview (Census AHS 2023, read 2026-10-17, n = 28,192, SE 0.2 points). In the survey's definitions, roofing is meant “to capture the replacement of the entire roof or at least most of it”. The questionnaire reads “please do not include any part of the MAJOR disaster work already reported” before these questions, so that work is not in the share. The share is a rate of roofing jobs in that window, never how long a roof lasts.

Researched by the InstaBids editorial team. Last checked: 17 October 2026 Updated 2026-10-17

In our own counts, n is the number of surveyed households behind a share and SE is its standard error, a measure of sampling error, in percentage points.

How long it lasts, by source

Should you repair or replace a roof?

The AHS draws a line between the two for its own count: its roofing item “is meant to capture the replacement of the entire roof or at least most of it”, and “Anything less, such as the repair of a hole or leak, or the replacement of a small section, would be considered maintenance.” (AHS 2023 definitions, read 2026-10-17, national).

HUD's planning table fixes one standard life per component type, and for an existing component in a capital needs assessment the table's notes read “The user may estimate the Remaining Useful Life of any existing component independent of the Standard EUL”, EUL meaning estimated useful life (structured on the ASTM E2018-08 outline, no issue date, read 2026-10-17, national, multifamily).

Whether a repair or a new roof makes sense depends on which part failed, the roof's age and condition, and what written bids for each option say.

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What a new roof costs is a separate question, answered with its own sources on our national cost page: How much does it cost to replace a roof?

Contractors who take part estimate from your photos and a written scope card, so nobody visits before you see any prices. Contractors in your trade see the scope card, your photos and your 5-digit ZIP code.

Sources for the figures on this page