Two questions get mixed together whenever roofing materials are compared: what does it cost, and what does it cost per year of service. They give different answers, and which one matters depends entirely on how long you plan to own the house.
Ranges are typical US installed costs. Regional variation on labor-heavy materials — tile and slate especially — is very large.
| Material | Installed per square | Expected life | Cost per square per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Three-tab asphalt | $300–$450 | 15–20 yr | $18–$26 |
| Architectural asphalt | $350–$700 | 22–30 yr | $14–$26 |
| Impact-rated asphalt | $450–$850 | 25–30 yr | $16–$30 |
| Metal, exposed fastener | $500–$900 | 25–40 yr | $16–$28 |
| Metal, standing seam | $900–$1,600 | 40–60 yr | $18–$32 |
| Concrete tile | $1,000–$1,800 | 40–60 yr | $20–$36 |
| Clay tile | $1,200–$2,500 | 50–100 yr | $16–$40 |
| Slate | $1,500–$4,000 | 75–150 yr | $15–$40 |
Read down the last column and the striking thing is how flat it is. Almost every roofing material costs roughly the same per year. What you are buying with the expensive ones is not lower lifetime cost — it is fewer disruptions, and in some cases a roof that outlives you.
Which means the real question is how long you are staying
Under 10 years: architectural asphalt, without hesitation. You will not recover a standing-seam premium in resale value, and buyers do not pay a premium for a roof they cannot see the age of.
10 to 25 years: architectural asphalt still, unless there is a specific reason otherwise — hail, wildfire, or a homeowners association that requires tile.
Forever, or the house is period-appropriate: this is where metal, tile and slate earn their price, and where "one more asphalt roof" is the false economy.
The reasons that override the arithmetic
Hail. In the hail belt, Class 4 impact-rated shingles or metal are the practical choices, and many insurers discount premiums for them. Get the actual discount figure from your insurer — over 25 years it can cover most of the upgrade.
Wildfire. Class A fire rating is a code requirement in wildland-urban interface zones in several states. Asphalt over the right underlayment achieves it; wood shakes generally do not.
Structure. Concrete and clay tile weigh 600–1,100 lb per square. Slate is 800–1,500. Asphalt is 200–350. A house framed for asphalt usually needs structural work before tile goes on, and that is an engineer's question, not a roofer's.
Pitch. Pitch also drives the labor rate, and below 2/12 no shingle is permitted at all — that is a low-slope membrane roof, a different trade entirely. Between 2/12 and 4/12, asphalt is allowed with doubled underlayment. Tile and slate generally want 4/12 minimum and many manufacturers specify more.
The warranty is shorter than the number on the box
A "50-year shingle" carries a 50-year material warranty that is prorated after the first ten or fifteen years, and covers manufacturing defects only. It does not cover installation, which is where nearly all roof failures actually originate.
The warranty worth reading is the workmanship warranty from the contractor, which is typically 2 to 10 years and is only as good as the company still existing. A ten-year workmanship warranty from a firm that has been trading for twenty is worth more than a fifty-year material warranty from anybody.
Ventilation changes the life more than the material
An asphalt roof over an unventilated attic in a hot climate can lose a third of its service life to heat. Balanced intake and exhaust ventilation is a small line on the quote and one of the few items that genuinely extends what you just bought.
If a quote does not mention ventilation at all, that is the question to ask before the one about shingle brand.
Start from your own square count
Every figure above is per square, so the total turns on how many squares you actually have — and footprint is not squares. Work it out for your size and pitch before you compare anybody's price.