Are you interested in adding more natural light to your home with a skylight? Is your biggest concern how much it’ll cost?
Installing a skylight isn’t a simple project. And just like every other big home improvement decision, cost plays a huge role in whether to follow through or not.
You can’t do this without transparent pricing. And the truth is, a skylight installation isn't cheap.
For over 30 years, the team at Bill Ragan Roofing has provided homeowners with an honest look at all the biggest pain points in the roofing industry. So, I’ll break down how much a skylight installation costs in general and based on the type you choose.
This article answers the following questions:
A skylight installation costs anywhere from $3,000 to $7,300 in 2025. Compared to 2024, this is an increase of around $200 to $500 per skylight.
However, what you’ll pay heavily depends on the type of skylight you install. Using the leading skylight brand VELUX as an example, let’s look at installation costs (labor and materials) for one skylight based on the specific type.
Keep in mind these estimates are pulled directly from VELUX’s website, so you’ll learn the actual price for a skylight installation after getting an estimate from a local roofing contractor.
VELUX’s fixed skylights are sealed and won’t open, which is where the “fixed” in the name comes from. They don’t let fresh air in, but fixed skylights still provide plenty of natural light without obstructing a roofline.
You can expect a fixed skylight installation to cost around $3,000-$5,000 in 2025.
VELUX’s manual “Fresh Air” skylight is a vented skylight that opens to allow fresh air in. However, it has to be opened manually.
Depending on if you can reach it, fresh air skylights are opened with a simple handle or rod. A manual vented skylight installation will cost around $3,200-$5,900 in 2025.
VELUX’s electric “fresh air” skylight is a vented skylight that opens and closes using electricity from a connected power source. A remote opens and closes it, but voice control, automatic control, and smart home automation can also be added.
This skylight also has a rain sensor that closes it automatically at the first signs of rain or inclement weather. An electric vented skylight installation costs around $4,350-$7,250 in 2025.
VELUX’s solar-powered “Fresh Air” skylight is like the electric-vented skylight, except it uses solar power to open and close. It also comes with a rain sensor and can be upgraded to add voice control, automatic control, and smart home automation.
You can expect a solar-powered skylight installation to cost around $4,250-$7,150 in 2025.
At this point, you have an idea of how much a skylight installation costs. The prices are based on VELUX’s estimation to install one skylight, but they aren’t the roofer doing the work.
In fact, there’s much more that a roofer must consider when estimating the price. That’s why you need to know what impacts the cost of a skylight installation to determine where you’ll fall in the ranges above.
For any roofing or skylight project, labor and time greatly impact cost. The more time and manpower it takes to install a skylight, the higher the labor costs.
This factor plays a huge part in pricing because it impacts everything else we’ll cover, which is why the ranges above have labor factored into them. Unfortunately, there’s no fixed labor cost because every company is different, so it’s impossible to determine just how much it adds.
Other than the type, the most obvious cost factor that impacts a skylight installation is size. The bigger the skylight, the more it costs.
This is true for both the skylight, associated materials, and labor. So, not only will the bigger skylight cost more, but the labor costs will also increase because more construction is required to make it fit.
A curb-mounted or deck-mounted skylight refers to the installation method. Deck-mounted is installed directly to your roof’s decking, while curb-mounted is built on-site (usually out of plywood) to elevate the skylight based on specific measurements.
Both are used for specific reasons, but a curb-mounted skylight costs more than a deck-mounted skylight. The main reason is the curb must be constructed before installing the skylight, which increases material and labor costs.
On top of this, installers may have to make their own flashing because the curb is built to a specific measurement. As long as you hire a company with skylight installation experience, they’ll recommend the right one for your situation.
There are a wide variety of skylight accessories, like blinds (darkening, light-filtering, venetian), remote controls, smart automation, and more. The more accessories you add, the more the skylight itself costs.
There may also be a small labor cost to install blinds if they have to be added before installation. Adding accessories gets expensive very quickly, so keep your budget in mind.
Just know that VELUX will automatically add solar-powered blinds to all skylights in 2025. This is one reason why prices have increased compared to 2024.
The complexity of the roof and the job itself always factor into roofing prices. So, the more complicated the installation, the higher the cost.
This could be anything, like where it’s being installed, the space from the ceiling to the roof, and anything else that adds difficulty to the project. For example, a steep roof pitch makes a skylight installation harder, takes longer, and requires safety precautions, which increases the price.
Building a curb and/or making custom flashing to seal the skylight completely greatly increases the complexity. But no matter the reason, the complexity of a skylight installation always factors into the final cost.
There’s no fixed labor cost across the board for roofing contractors, which is why labor costs depend on who you hire. Besides the skylight itself, the roofing contractor you hire has the biggest impact on a skylight installation’s cost.
But labor costs aren’t the only thing specific to the company you hire. Overhead costs (and profit) are also included in pricing across all jobs.
Operating costs that are wrapped into a roof installation, roof repairs, a skylight installation, and anything else are:
Operating expenses will always factor into the final cost, no matter what work you get done or what service you need.
The main reason getting a new skylight is so expensive is that it’s an actual construction project. It's labor-intensive, with multiple trades (carpentry, roofing, and painting) on one project.
Getting a new skylight requires:
If you get a curb-mounted skylight, construction is also involved in making the curb. Putting all the work under a general contractor may be cheaper than finding individual tradesmen, but skylight installations will always have high labor costs.
You now have an idea of how much a skylight installation costs, why it costs so much, and the main factors that impact the pricing. I understand the price is shocking, but a skylight is a bigger project than most people think.
Even more importantly, cost isn’t the only thing you need to know about installing a skylight before investing in one. The last thing you want is to have questions after the project is done instead of having the answers before investing thousands of dollars.
That’s why I wrote another article breaking what every homeowner needs to know about getting a skylight.
Check out 8 Things You Need to Know About Getting a Skylight to learn what you need to know before calling a roofing contractor for an estimate.