Roofing contractors in Los Angeles County usually ask how deep the pipeline of aging roofs is and how fast it is being worked. Our dataset gives a partial answer to both. It tracks 345,964 homes in the county, each grouped by estimated roof age from its permit history. This article uses those buckets and compares them with the volume of recorded roofing permits over the trailing 12 months through September 2026.
All counts here are permits in Poach.rr's dataset, collected from public permit portals (the source host is data.lacity.org). They are not every permit in the county, and the roof ages are estimates built from permit history, not inspections.
Roof age buckets in the dataset
| Estimated roof age | Homes in dataset |
|---|---|
| Under 5 years | 74,173 |
| 5 to 10 years | 118,401 |
| 10 to 15 years | 44,757 |
| 15 to 20 years | 30,557 |
| Over 20 years | 78,076 |
The 15-20 and over-20 buckets together make up 31.4% of tracked homes. Those are the two groups most contractors treat as replacement candidates.
The 15-20 year bucket
There are 30,557 homes in this group. Their roofs are approaching the age where replacement conversations start, but many owners have not acted yet. For a contractor, these homes suit early outreach: inspection offers, maintenance and repair evaluations, and getting on the owner's shortlist before the roof fails.
The over-20 year bucket
This is the larger group at 78,076 homes, and it is bigger than the 15-20 bucket. Part of that is how the data works. An over-20 estimate can mean a roof that has gone a long time without a recorded permit, so some of these homes may have been re-roofed without a filing we can see. Treat the bucket as a list of probable candidates rather than confirmed old roofs. Its size still shows how much older inventory sits in the county.
How that compares with current replacement volume
Over the trailing 12 months, our dataset recorded 20,272 roofing permits in Los Angeles County. The prior 12 months had 19,175, so the trailing figure is up 5.7%. The monthly average over the trailing year was 1,689 permits. Of the roofing permits, 85.6% were replacements and 0.7% were repairs.
Put the two sets of numbers side by side. The over-20 bucket alone holds 78,076 homes, while the whole county produced 20,272 roofing permits in the last year, and not all of those were on roofs in the aging buckets. Even with the caveats about estimated ages, the stock of older roofs is much larger than a year of recorded activity. The pipeline is not close to exhausted.
Month-by-month pattern
Monthly roofing permits ranged from a low of 1,358 in November 2025 to a high of 2,138 in September 2026. September 2026 is the latest month in the data and the peak of the 24-month window. It is up 24.4% from August's 1,719 and up 32% from September 2025's 1,620. Because portals sometimes publish filings late, the latest month can still change. One strong month is not a trend, so read the 12-month figures first.
Where the activity is
Recorded roofing permits are concentrated in a few places. The dataset covers 85 cities and areas, and the top five are:
- Los Angeles: 15,524 permits, 76.6% of the county total in our dataset
- Los Angeles County (unincorporated): 2,101 permits, 10.4%
- Pomona: 441 permits, 2.2%
- Whittier: 343 permits, 1.7%
- Altadena: 336 permits, 1.7%
That skew matters. Coverage depends on which jurisdictions publish permits, and the City of Los Angeles dominates what we see. The county-wide age buckets will lean toward the areas that report most fully. Smaller cities may be under-represented, so do not assume a quiet market just because the counts are low.
A practical prospecting plan
- Start with the over-20 group. These homes have the strongest case for replacement. Filter by permit age in your county and work the oldest permit dates first.
- Add the 15-20 group as a second wave. Offer inspections and repair evaluations. With 30,557 homes in this bucket, you have room to qualify slowly rather than chase every lead at once.
- Pick a geography you can serve. Pick one or two cities where you can cover a route in a day. With Los Angeles holding 15,524 permits, a single neighborhood can keep a crew busy.
- Choose exclusive or shared deliberately. Poach.rr lets you buy a prospect exclusively or shared with other contractors. Use exclusive for the oldest roofs, where you want to be the only voice, and shared for broader, earlier-stage outreach.
- Respect do-not-call flags. Homeowner contact details are looked up on demand after purchase, and numbers on do-not-call lists are marked. Plan mailers or door-knocking for flagged homes.
- Time your pushes with the data, not one month. Monthly volume swings between 1,358 and 2,138 in this window. Plan around the 12-month average of 1,689, not a single high month.
A side note on HVAC
If you also do HVAC or work with a partner who does, the same permit history offers a cross-sell signal. Our dataset scores 48,899 homes for HVAC, with a median system age of 22 years. A total of 2,198 homes show a recent roof or solar permit alongside an old system. That makes them natural contacts for a bundled conversation after a roof job.
What to take from this
The county has a large base of older roofs in our dataset: 30,557 in the 15-20 bucket and 78,076 past 20 years. Recorded roofing activity over the trailing 12 months is 20,272 permits, up 5.7% on the prior 12. Treat the age buckets as a ranked starting list, check them against what you see on the ground, and expect the latest month to shift as late filings arrive. New accounts get free prospects to try the marketplace, no card required, so you can test a bucket in your service area before committing.
Frequently asked questions
How many roofs in Los Angeles County are due for replacement?
In our dataset, 30,557 homes are in the 15-20 year roof age bucket and 78,076 are over 20 years, out of 345,964 homes tracked. Ages are estimated from permit history, so treat them as candidates.
What share of Los Angeles County roofs are over 15 years old?
In our dataset, 31.4% of tracked homes have an estimated roof age over 15 years. That covers the 15-20 and over-20 buckets.
How many roofing permits were recorded in Los Angeles County in the last 12 months?
Our dataset recorded 20,272 roofing permits over the trailing 12 months, up 5.7% from 19,175 in the prior 12 months. Of those, 85.6% were replacements.
Is roofing activity rising in Los Angeles County?
September 2026 had 2,138 recorded permits, up from 1,620 in September 2025. The latest month can be incomplete or revised, so the 12-month rise of 5.7% is the safer read.
Which cities have the most roofing permits in Los Angeles County?
Los Angeles leads with 15,524 recorded permits, followed by unincorporated Los Angeles County with 2,101, Pomona with 441, Whittier with 343 and Altadena with 336.
Methodology
Counts are residential roofing and solar building permits in Poach.rr's dataset for Los Angeles County, CA, collected from public permit portals (data.lacity.org). Coverage depends on which jurisdictions publish permits, so read the numbers as a consistent sample, not a census of every permit filed. Months where a source feed was incomplete are excluded from comparisons, and the latest month can rise as portals publish late filings. Data runs through September 2026; page generated October 14, 2026.