- The middle half earn between $23.03 and $34.04 an hour.
- Only 8 states pay solar installers more at the median.
- Illinois pays more than all 3 neighboring states.
- At the state median wage, a solar installation company needs to bill about $120.94 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Solar Installer pay in Illinois, bottom to top
BLS calls this group solar photovoltaic installers: the crews who mount, wire and set up solar panels on roofs and on the ground.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $17.00 | $35,360 | $20.00 |
| 25th percentile | $23.03 | $47,890 | $22.45 |
| Median | $28.67 | $59,630 | $25.55 |
| 75th percentile | $34.04 | $70,800 | $30.23 |
| 90th percentile | $49.74 | $103,460 | $38.45 |
| Average (mean) | $30.04 | $62,480 | $27.84 |
Pay spreads out a lot in Illinois. The bottom tenth earn $17.00 an hour or less while the top tenth earn $49.74 or more, a gap of 2.9 times against 1.9 nationally. Where a solar installer sits on that range matters as much as the state.
The bottom of the scale is lower than nationally ($17.00 against $20.00) while the top is higher ($49.74 against $38.45), so the climb from new hire to top earner is longer here.
The average, $30.04, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Illinois compares with other states
Over a full year, the Illinois median of $59,630 is $6,490 more than the national $53,140.
In the state ranking, Illinois sits 9th, between California ($29.14) and Massachusetts ($28.45). The range runs from $20.37 in South Dakota to $37.96 in New Jersey.
Illinois pays solar installers more than any of its neighboring states, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin. Someone working near the border can earn more by taking work on this side of it.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Illinois. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
How many solar installers work in Illinois
BLS did not publish a count of solar installers employed in Illinois for May 2025. That happens when the survey sample is too thin to estimate the number with confidence. The wage figures above were published and are used as they are.
What a solar installation company in Illinois should charge
Higher wages in Illinois go straight into the price. Take a solar installation company in Illinois paying the state median of $28.67 and run it through the labor rate calculator with its starting numbers (40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit).
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $28.67 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $64,196 |
| Break-even rate | ($64,196 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $102.80 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $102.80 ÷ 0.85 | $120.94 |
That is $120.94 per billable hour, 4.2 times the wage, and $5.48 more than the $115.46 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $34.04 in Illinois, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $130.37.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $23.03, the rate only drops to $111.03.
Overhead, at $60 of every billed hour, and the unbilled hours move this rate more than a raise does. A dollar more in wages adds about $1.76 to the rate.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 47-2231, solar photovoltaic installers, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: solar installer salary by state.