Commercial roofing recruiters serving Madison.
Madison's roofing market runs about 11% above national, with real opportunity at UW Health's two concurrent hospital additions and Epic Systems' new sixth campus.
Two hospital additions, and a famously unusual tech campus.
Metro pay for every role we recruit is in the table below.
What the hub does flag directly: UW Health's two hospital additions and Epic's new office buildings both carry "substantial roofing scope," with standard commercial roofing carrying a solid regional premium otherwise.
We recruit across the full org chart for commercial roofing contractors in Madison, and we verify real hospital-scale or corporate-campus roofing history depending on the specific role.
The story behind the demand.
A healthcare building boom, alongside continued growth at Epic Systems.
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A six-story addition and a separate one-story addition across two hospital campuses, both concluding late 2026, carry substantial hospital-scale roofing scope.
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Three new office buildings, a food services building, and a 2,000+ stall parking structure on Epic's Verona campus add substantial corporate-campus roofing scope.
What commercial roofing roles pay in Madison.
In the Madison metro, BLS puts the median for roofers at $60,820 a year, 10% above the $55,440 national median. Among the 104 metros BLS publishes for this occupation, Madison ranks 26th on pay. Most of the market sits between $40,660 and $81,760. Of the other field roles, sheet metal worker pays the most locally, at a $74,450 median. BLS does not publish Madison pay for roofing helper, which it withholds where a metro's sample is too small to be reliable. National benchmarks by role are in the 2026 Commercial Roofing Salary Guide.
| Role | Madison median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial RooferRoofers (47-2181) | $60,820 | $40,660–$81,760 | $55,440 | +10% | 270 |
| Roofing HelperHelpers--Roofers (47-3016) | – | – | $44,160 | – | – |
| Sheet Metal WorkerSheet Metal Workers (47-2211) | $74,450 | $47,150–$107,280 | $61,800 | +20% | 340 |
| Roofing ForemanFirst-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $93,290 | $53,750–$128,400 | $79,920 | +17% | – |
| EstimatorCost Estimators (13-1051) | $73,420 | $55,710–$109,260 | $78,740 | −7% | – |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Madison metro. Range is 10th to 90th percentile. Headcount is shown for field occupations only; management, estimating and supervisory codes are counted across every industry in the metro.
What candidates expect. What credentials matter. What kills offers.
We don't tell prospective clients who their competitors are hiring - that's a discipline our clients value, and we'll honor it on a call. What we will share publicly: how the Madison commercial roofing hiring game actually plays out in 2026. The five things below are what we tell every Madison roofing client at intake.
Why Madison publishes no distinct roofing wage figure - and what that means for offers
Madison's own market data doesn't break out a separate commercial-roofer wage row the way most metros we track do; the closest published figure is the region's general commercial estimator rate, which runs about 11% above national. We benchmark roofing offers against that general premium rather than inventing a roofing-specific number that doesn't exist in the metro's own data.
Why UW Health and Epic are the real opportunity
Madison's own market data names UW Health's two hospital additions and Epic's new office buildings as both carrying "substantial roofing scope," while standard commercial roofing carries a solid regional premium otherwise - two concurrent hospital campuses plus a major corporate-campus expansion, all at once.
Where Madison commercial roofing talent comes from
We recruit across the full org chart for commercial roofing contractors in Madison. Standard commercial roofing crews draw on a genuinely available regional pipeline. Foremen with real hospital-scale or corporate-campus roofing capability are the harder fill.
Credentials worth filtering for
What actually separates candidates in Madison: verified hospital-scale roofing project history for UW Health-adjacent work, or corporate-campus roofing experience for Epic's new buildings - the two specific opportunities the metro's own market data flags.
Realistic timelines, by role
Standard roles: 4-6 weeks intake to signed offer. Foremen for UW Health-scale hospital or Epic-scale corporate-campus work run longer given how specifically those scales narrow the pool. First slate of vetted candidates within 48 hours regardless.
The roofing positions we fill, most often.
Across all Madison commercial roofing clients, these are the highest-volume roles we've recruited for in the last 24 months. Foremen with real hospital-scale or corporate-campus roofing experience are the role in genuine short supply - everything else draws on the metro's own available regional pipeline.
- Hospital-scale roofing foreman (UW Health-adjacent)
- Corporate-campus roofing foreman (Epic Systems-scale)
- Commercial roofing foreman (general)
- Commercial roofing estimator
- Roofing project manager
For the broader picture across every commercial trade in Madison, see the Madison metro overview. To learn more about commercial roofing generally (across all 100+ markets we serve), see our Commercial Roofing industry page.
How we recruit commercial roofing in Madison, plainly.
Same approach we use in every market - but tuned for what works in Madison's commercial roofing segment specifically:
- Same-day intake call. We get the role, the project context, the budget, your dealbreakers. For Madison roofing, we also confirm whether the work is UW Health-scale hospital or Epic-scale corporate-campus work, since those need different sourcing pools.
- Candidate sourcing within 48 hours. We pull from our existing Madison commercial roofing candidate network, filtered for verified hospital or corporate-campus experience where required.
- Vetted short list (week one). Three to five candidates. We verify real project-delivery history at the right scale rather than a line on a resume.
- Offer and close. Standard roles close in 4-6 weeks. We help with offer math against the region's general commercial estimator benchmark, since Madison publishes no roofing-specific wage figure.
Madison runs 24% fewer commercial roofing workers per job than the country as a whole — below the national concentration. Fewer per job means the people you want are already working, and usually for someone who would rather keep them.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 , Roofers. Metro-wide figures for the base occupation; the wage table above is role-specific and commercial.
How Madison's commercial roofing market compares
In 2023 the Madison metro had 11 nonresidential roofing contractors (counted by business location), with about 177 people on their payrolls. Average pay at those firms was $59,139, 21.1% below the national average of $74,959 for the same kind of employer. That works out to 1.6 per 100,000 residents, close to the 1.8 national rate. These firms account for 0.9% of all construction employment in the metro.
Among the 95 metros we cover with published BLS figures, Madison ranks 76th for headcount, 25th for median pay and 61st for concentration for roofers.
| Metro | Employed | Median pay | Concentration | Commercial employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee | 980 | $60,140 | 1.37 | 37 |
| Madison | 270 | $60,820 | 0.76 | 11 |
BLS OEWS occupation figures and QCEW business-location counts; a dash means not published.
What this means for hiring:For commercial roofing employers in Madison, the local pool is thinner than most, so plan on recruiting some roles in from outside the metro.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Madison metro. Employers are counted by business location.
How Madison's commercial roofing market has changed since 2018.
The number of nonresidential roofing contractors in Madison rose from 8 in 2018 to 11 in 2023, up 38%, ahead of the 10% national rise. With so few firms, one opening or closing moves that percentage a long way.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential roofing contractors: business locations | 8 | 11 | +38% |
| Nonresidential roofing contractors: employment | – | 177 | – |
| Nonresidential roofing contractors: average annual pay | – | $59,139 | – |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private employers, annual averages. A dash means BLS did not publish the figure.
Frequently asked — commercial roofing hiring in Madison.
What major projects are driving commercial roofing demand in Madison?
UW Health's an unspecified share of a $310M combined authorization combined hospital additions across University Hospital and East Madison Hospital, both concluding late 2026, and Epic Systems' new office buildings on its sixth Verona campus ("Other Worlds") both carry substantial roofing scope.
Is there a specialty roofing premium tied to UW Health or Epic?
Madison's own market data names UW Health's hospital additions and Epic's new office buildings as both carrying substantial roofing scope, but does not publish a separate percentage for that opportunity.
What do roofers earn in Madison?
BLS puts the Madison median for roofers at $60,820 a year, 10% above the $55,440 national median. That ranks 26th of 104 metros with published figures, in the top quarter. Most of the market sits between $40,660 and $81,760, a 2.0x gap and a moderate spread, so a few thousand dollars over the median buys real experience. No other Wisconsin metro we cover pays more for this work (Milwaukee: $60,140).
Is it hard to hire roofers in Madison?
Yes. Madison has 24% fewer roofers per job than the country as a whole, roughly 270 in the metro, so most of the people worth hiring are already employed. The 11 nonresidential roofing contractors here average about 16 employees per location. With 38% more of those firms than in 2018, more employers are competing for the same crews.
Which commercial roofing roles pay the most in Madison?
Of the roles we recruit for, Roofing Foreman pays the most in Madison, a $93,290 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Sheet Metal Worker at $74,450, 20% below it. Commercial Roofer is the lowest-paid field role at $60,820. Relative to national pay, Sheet Metal Worker is the strongest-paying role here (20% above). Estimator trails national pay the most (7% below).
How many nonresidential roofing contractors operate in Madison?
BLS counted 11 nonresidential roofing contractors in Madison in 2023, employing about 177 people between them. Up from 8 in 2018, a 38% increase against 10% growth nationally. That averages 16 people per location. They pay an average of $59,139, 21% below the $74,959 national average for the same kind of employer.
Which nearby metros compete with Madison for roofers?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Milwaukee (76 miles, about 980, $60,140 median), Chicago (123 miles, about 3,900, $82,090 median) and Grand Rapids (189 miles, about 380, $49,630 median). Milwaukee has the larger pool, so it is the first place to look for senior people willing to move. Chicago pays 35% more, which is where Madison employers tend to lose people.
Hiring commercial roofing talent in Madison?
Tell us the role. We'll tell you wages, timeline, and where we'd source the candidate - in under 30 minutes.