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Architectural asphalt shingles typically run $4.50 to $8 per square foot installed, exposed-fastener metal panels $4 to $7.50, and standing seam steel $10 to $16 — so metal usually costs more on day one. The comparison that decides it, though, is not one roof against one roof: it is one metal roof against two or three shingle roofs. Asphalt is commonly rated 25 to 30 years and often delivers 20 to 25 in hot or storm-prone climates, while steel and aluminium are commonly cited at 40 to 70 years. Over a fifty year window, shingles get bought two or three times. This guide breaks down installed pricing by system, the 50-year view, where each option genuinely wins, the costs people forget such as tear-off, decking repair, roof complexity and fastener maintenance, and the insurance angle in hail and wildfire regions. Run your own roof through both calculators rather than trusting national averages.
Metal costs roughly double architectural asphalt per square and lasts two to three times as long. Whether that is worth it comes down to one question: how long will you own the house?
| Architectural asphalt | Standing-seam metal | |
|---|---|---|
| Relative installed cost | 1x | About 2x |
| Typical life | 25 – 30 years | 40 – 70 years |
| Roofs needed in 50 years | Two | One |
| Relative 50-year cost | About 2x | About 2x |
| Disruption | Two full reroofs | One |
Over a full 50 years the two land close together, which is why the decision is really about ownership horizon rather than about cost. If you sell in ten years, you paid double and recovered part of it in the sale price. If you are there for thirty, metal wins on cost and on not having to do it twice.
| Footprint | 4/12 | 6/12 | 8/12 | 12/12 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000 sq ft | 10.5 sq | 11.2 sq | 12 sq | 14.1 sq |
| 1,500 sq ft | 15.8 sq | 16.8 sq | 18 sq | 21.2 sq |
| 2,000 sq ft | 21.1 sq | 22.4 sq | 24 sq | 28.3 sq |
| 2,500 sq ft | 26.4 sq | 28 sq | 30 sq | 35.4 sq |
| 3,000 sq ft | 31.6 sq | 33.5 sq | 36.1 sq | 42.4 sq |
The cost by state pages carry per-square installed ranges for both materials in every state, and the city pages scale them by the local metro factor.
Durability, weather performance, noise, repairability and resale are covered on the shingles versus metal roofing comparison, which deliberately leaves the cost side to this page.
Over 50 years the two land close together, because metal lasts through what would be two asphalt roofs. It comes down to how long you will own the house — under about ten years and you will not see the return.
It can, substantially, in hail and wildfire regions. Ask your insurer for the actual figure before deciding, because it varies by carrier and by state.
It is a selling point in some markets and neutral in others, and it rarely returns its full premium at sale. Buy it for the lifespan, not for the resale.
On a complex cut-up roof where metal labour rises with every valley, and where you may sell within a decade. Also where quick local repair matters — any roofer can patch a shingle roof.
Getting quotes for standing seam? Check them against the standing seam metal roof cost calculator.
Price the metal option on your roof with the metal roof cost calculator.