Roofer in West Virginia: licence, certification and what employers require (2026)

West Virginia does not license roofers: no state licence for roofers as employees; a roofing contractor licence applies in some states. This page says what a roofer licensed or working in another state has to do to work in West Virginia, in the order to do it, and what goes wrong when the order is reversed.

How the transfer works

No state licenses roofers as employees. A few states license roofing contractors as a trade (Florida, California, Arizona, Nevada, Illinois among them); in those, working for yourself in West Virginia means the contractor exam, a bond and insurance. As an employee, your record and your fall-protection training are what transfer.

What to have ready before you move

• OSHA 10 card and fall-protection training
• Manufacturer certifications (GAF, Owens Corning) if you hold them

Start the paperwork before you give notice. There is no West Virginia licence to wait for, so the only clock is the employer's.

What people get wrong

• Contracting unlicensed in a state that licenses roofing contractors; it voids your contracts
• Underestimating the season; northern states slow down for months

Who hires roofers in West Virginia

Roofers in West Virginia are hired by roofing contractors, storm-restoration companies and commercial roofing firms. The metros with the most of that work are Charleston, Huntington and Morgantown. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are on the West Virginia openings page.

For the money side: the median roofer in West Virginia earned $39,420 a year ($19 an hour) in May 2024 across 470 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and West Virginia has a progressive state income tax with a top rate of 4.82%. What that leaves you after tax is its own page.

West Virginia also has a program that pay people to move in: Ascend West Virginia ($12,000 over two years plus outdoor perks, for remote workers who move to one of the participating communities (Morgantown, Lewisburg, Shepherdstown and others)). Each has a residence condition and a funding round.

Everything about West Virginia, on one page

The West Virginia page has the registries and boards, the income tax table, the programs that pay you to come and the openings filed this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of West Virginia employers hiring from out of state.