- The middle half earn between $25.37 and $29.16 an hour.
- Iowa ranks 11th of the 32 states with published figures for median pay in this trade.
- Iowa pays more than 2 of its 3 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 180 solar installers on payrolls in Iowa.
- At the state median wage, a solar installation company needs to bill about $118.50 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Solar Installer pay in Iowa, 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 | $19.92 | $41,430 | $20.00 |
| 25th percentile | $25.37 | $52,760 | $22.45 |
| Median | $27.28 | $56,740 | $25.55 |
| 75th percentile | $29.16 | $60,650 | $30.23 |
| 90th percentile | $34.83 | $72,450 | $38.45 |
| Average (mean) | $27.35 | $56,890 | $27.84 |
Pay is bunched up in Iowa. The top tenth earn $34.83 an hour or more, about 1.7 times the $19.92 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 1.9 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $0.08 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $3.62 less than the national top tenth.
The average, $27.35, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Iowa compares with other states
Over a full year, the Iowa median of $56,740 is $3,600 more than the national $53,140.
In the state ranking, Iowa sits 11th, between Massachusetts ($28.45) and New York ($27.00). The range runs from $20.37 in South Dakota to $37.96 in New Jersey.
Against its neighboring states, Iowa is in the middle: Illinois pays more, and South Dakota and Wisconsin pay less.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Iowa. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Iowa |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa | $27.28 | $56,740 | |
| Illinois | $28.67 | $59,630 | +$1.39 an hour |
| South Dakota | $20.37 | $42,380 | −$6.91 an hour |
| Wisconsin | $23.93 | $49,770 | −$3.35 an hour |
How many solar installers work in Iowa
About 180 solar installers work on payrolls in Iowa, 0.6% of the 31,350 nationwide, the 19th largest count among the states.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 0.1 per 1,000 jobs, 0.58 times the national share.
What a solar installation company in Iowa should charge
Higher wages in Iowa go straight into the price. Take a solar installation company in Iowa paying the state median of $27.28 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 | $27.28 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $61,083 |
| Break-even rate | ($61,083 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $100.72 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $100.72 ÷ 0.85 | $118.50 |
That is $118.50 per billable hour, 4.3 times the wage, and $3.04 more than the $115.46 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $29.16 in Iowa, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $121.80.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $25.37, the rate only drops to $115.14.
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.