On this page
- The 60-second version
- What does a roofing lead cost on search ads?
- Why does a lead cost less than an estimate?
- Work out your own cost per estimate and per job
- Shared, exclusive or booked: what are you paying for?
- What happens to a roofing lead after you pay for it?
- What have we seen in our own campaigns?
- Which should you buy?
The short answer
On search ads the median roofing lead cost $228.15, but a lead is only a call or a form. At a 25% booking rate and a 33% close rate, that is about $913 per booked estimate and $2,765 per closed job. Work out yours with the calculator below.
Want booked estimates instead of leads? We run the ads, vet every homeowner and put exclusive estimates on your calendar. You pay per qualified meeting.
Schedule a time01 —
The 60-second version
The whole article in five lines. With a 25% booking rate and a 33% close rate, that lead works out to about $913 per estimate and $2,765 per job. Your own rates will differ.
- Lead cost: $228.15 median for roofing on search, against $90.92 for all home services (LocaliQ).
- Click and conversion: $10.70 per click, and 3.70% of clicks convert.
- The formula: cost per estimate is cost per lead divided by the share of leads that book. Cost per job divides again by your close rate.
- Competition: 66% of roofing homeowners plan to gather three quotes (Roofing Contractor).
- What to ask any provider: cost per booked estimate and per closed job, not cost per lead.
Figures are from the sources linked below each chart and table, checked on Oct 22, 2026.
02 —
What does a roofing lead cost on search ads?
The median roofing lead cost $228.15 on Google and Microsoft search ads. That is two and a half times the all-home-services median of $90.92, and the highest of the 16 categories in LocaliQ's benchmark of 3,211 US campaigns.
LocaliQ, 2025 Search Ad Benchmarks for Home Services: medians across 3,211 US home services search campaigns on Google and Microsoft Ads, April 2024 to March 2025. A lead is whatever each advertiser counts as a conversion, usually a call or a form. It is not a booked estimate or a closed job.
| Metric (search ads) | Roofing and gutters | All home services |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per click | $10.70 | $7.85 |
| Click-through rate | 5.66% | 6.37% |
| Conversion rate | 3.70% | 7.33% |
| Cost per lead | $228.15 | $90.92 |
Costs are rising. LocaliQ found cost per lead went up for 69% of the businesses in its data, by 10.51% on average, in a year. Source: LocaliQ, 2025 Search Ad Benchmarks for Home Services, April 2024 to March 2025. A lead is whatever each advertiser counts as a conversion, usually a call or a form.
03 —
Why does a lead cost less than an estimate?
Because only some leads turn into a booked estimate. Some do not answer, some are outside your area, some want a number and nothing else. The cost of a booked estimate is the cost per lead divided by the share of leads that book.
The table below is arithmetic, not data. It shows how much the booking rate moves the number. The middle row uses the LocaliQ roofing median; the other two lead prices are illustrative.
| Cost per lead | 10% of leads book | 25% of leads book | 50% of leads book |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100 (illustrative) | $1,000 | $400 | $200 |
| $228.15 (LocaliQ median) | $2,282 | $913 | $456 |
| $300 (illustrative) | $3,000 | $1,200 | $600 |
Read across the middle row: at the same $228.15 lead, one in ten booking means about $2,282 per estimate, and one in two means about $456. A cheaper lead that books less often can cost more. That is why the booking rate belongs next to every lead price you are quoted.
04 —
Work out your own cost per estimate and per job
Put in your own lead cost, booking rate and close rate to see what an estimate and a closed job really cost you. Use the cost per lead from your ad account or your lead provider, and the booking and close rates from your last 90 days.
Your cost per estimate and per job
The cost per lead is LocaliQ's roofing median. The booking rate, close rate and job value are placeholders, not benchmarks. Replace them with your own numbers.
If the last number is high, the fix is rarely a cheaper lead. It is usually a higher booking rate (faster replies, better qualifying) or a better close rate. See speed to lead for contractors.
05 —
Shared, exclusive or booked: what are you paying for?
Each model charges for a different thing, and each leaves a different job with you. Ask what the price covers and what you still have to do.
| Model | You pay for | You still do | Ask the provider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared lead marketplace | A homeowner's request, sold to several roofers | Call fast, compete on price, qualify | How many roofers get each lead? |
| Exclusive lead | A request sold only to you | Call, qualify, book | What counts as a valid lead, and what is refunded? |
| Ads you run yourself | Clicks, plus your time or an agency's | Everything after the click | What is the cost per booked estimate, not per click? |
| Booked, vetted estimate | An estimate on your calendar that passed your checks | Run the estimate and sell | What is qualified, and are no-shows billed? |
The last row is the model we work in. More on how the models compare in contractor lead generation services.
06 —
What happens to a roofing lead after you pay for it?
Most roofing homeowners compare before they hire, so the lead you buy is rarely the only call they take. Roofing Contractor's 2026 homeowner survey shows how much they check and compare.
Roofing Contractor, The Homeowner's Roofing Journey in 2026 (May 1, 2026), with Owens Corning and myClearOpinion Insights Hub. Homeowner survey completed October 2025. Caveat: the survey is sponsored, respondents are roofing decision-makers who skew older (mean age 58) and higher income, and homeowners could pick several answers, so bars do not add to 100%.
Two things follow. Expect to be one of about three quotes, so reviews and a visible price range matter. And a fast reply stands out: only 2% of homeowners expect an answer within an hour, so the roofer who calls in minutes is rare. This survey is sponsored, covers roofing only and skews older and higher income, so read it as a guide, not a law.
07 —
What have we seen in our own campaigns?
In our Loomis Construction campaign, a roofing company in Oklahoma, one Facebook campaign produced 54 qualified leads on $1,771 of total ad spend over 30 days. The same 30 days produced 22 confirmed appointments and $44K+ in revenue across the work we did together.
- What we did: high-intent campaigns aimed at homeowners needing replacements or major repairs, low-budget requests filtered out in the form, a CRM with automated SMS and email follow-up, door-to-door support, and review and referral requests.
- The per-lead math: $1,771 divided by 54 is about $33 of ad spend per qualified lead. That is ad spend only, for one campaign on one channel, with leads qualified by form filters. It is not comparable to the search benchmark above and it excludes any management fees.
- Caveat: one client, one market, 30 days. An example, not a promise.
Read the full Loomis Construction case study.
08 —
Which should you buy?
Buy whichever model gives you the lowest cost per closed job, and insist on measuring it. Use this order of questions.
- Work out your cost per booked estimate and per closed job with the calculator. Make that your yardstick.
- Prefer exclusive leads or booked estimates over shared leads when your close rate is strong enough to justify the price.
- Write down what qualified means before you sign. See what counts as a qualified meeting.
- Reply within minutes during working hours, whichever model you pick.
- Track every lead through to a closed job so you can drop the channels that do not pay back.
For the wider picture, read our guide to roofing leads and marketing for roofers.
Sources and data notes
- LocaliQ, 2025 Search Ad Benchmarks for Home Services: medians across 3,211 US home services search campaigns on Google and Microsoft Ads, April 2024 to March 2025. A lead is whatever each advertiser counts as a conversion, usually a call or a form. It is not a booked estimate or a closed job. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Roofing Contractor, The Homeowner's Roofing Journey in 2026 (May 1, 2026), with Owens Corning and myClearOpinion Insights Hub. Homeowner survey completed October 2025. Caveat: the survey is sponsored, respondents are roofing decision-makers who skew older (mean age 58) and higher income, and homeowners could pick several answers, so bars do not add to 100%. Checked Oct 22, 2026.
- Client example: Loomis Construction case study, as published (30 days, Oklahoma).