I've provided financing to roofing companies, their labor is a LOT more expensive than your estimates.
Usually the company pays an independent contractor for the install based on the job. That independent contractor (usually the lead guy/gal on a 2-4 person crew) then has to pay for all their safety equipment, trucks, insurance, and his personal cut plus the cost of the 3 person crew). This, along with framing, are probably two of the toughest jobs in residential construction and thus get paid the most.
The re-roofing crews are specifically the most expensive, as an owner once told me "the homeowner doesn't want his plants around the hoes damaged and doesn't tolerate the crew taking a leak/dump in their back yard. If you're roofing a new home, that stuff doesn't matter because you're early enough on the job"
I promise its not as lucrative as you think, but you can always go open a roofing company
This guy im sure does not hire independent contractors. It';s a small town around here and again you talk to the contractor directly pretty much.
I'm not saying that the roofing sector in general is that lucrative - although i doubt the margins that were stated here of only 3% profit margin that is a profit margin of a wholesaler retailer. I couldn't even bother for a 3% profit margin on a SME unless we are talking about several hunderd millions of turnover.
I was just astonished on how simple and fast this particular job was, and specialize just in this type of installation - metal and simple roofs.
I agree that it's labour intensive - in this case it wasn't. Shingles and such no thanks. I saw my MIL replace hers, and she paid the same amount roughly for a bigger house and the guys had to remove the old shingles... remove squares of rotten plywood... install new plywood about 5-8 squares... lay down the roofing felt and other water proofing things... and then lay the shingles... it was 4-5 days of intense labour - they were also amish btw.
These guys were done in 2-3 hours!
I am sure once I have to replace my roof, I will go with metal, and from what I have seen, it does not seem super duper hard for a simple roof. I think I'll do it myself once time comes.
Regarding durability, I would love to have a tile roof since those last way more than even metal roofs! But here in the States they are super expensive it's ridiculous - as comparison back where I'm from (Portugal and Spain) - the cost of clay roof tiles is much cheaper! The most expensive clay tile is about 1.35 dollars per sq ft for material and this is from a retailer like Lowes - Im sure if I go to something more specialized I would find better prices :) )! not to mention the structure of my current home, I doubt it could handle all the weight from a clay tile roof!