- The middle half earn between $29.40 and $49.06 an hour.
- No state pays solar installers more at the median.
- New Jersey pays more than both neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 1,880 solar installers on payrolls in New Jersey.
- At the state median wage, a solar installation company needs to bill about $137.25 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Solar Installer pay in New Jersey, 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 | $22.89 | $47,600 | $20.00 |
| 25th percentile | $29.40 | $61,150 | $22.45 |
| Median | $37.96 | $78,950 | $25.55 |
| 75th percentile | $49.06 | $102,050 | $30.23 |
| 90th percentile | $49.06 | $102,050 | $38.45 |
| Average (mean) | $37.83 | $78,690 | $27.84 |
Pay spreads out a lot in New Jersey. The bottom tenth earn $22.89 an hour or less while the top tenth earn $49.06 or more, a gap of 2.1 times against 1.9 nationally. Where a solar installer sits on that range matters as much as the state.
Both ends of the scale beat the national figures: $22.89 against $20.00 at the bottom tenth, and $49.06 against $38.45 at the top.
The average, $37.83, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How New Jersey compares with other states
Over a full year, the New Jersey median of $78,950 is $25,810 more than the national $53,140.
No state pays more. The next highest is Hawaii at $33.83, and the lowest is South Dakota at $20.37.
New Jersey pays solar installers more than any of its neighboring states, New York and Pennsylvania. 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 New Jersey. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against New Jersey |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | $37.96 | $78,950 | |
| New York | $27.00 | $56,160 | −$10.96 an hour |
| Pennsylvania | $22.96 | $47,760 | −$15.00 an hour |
How many solar installers work in New Jersey
BLS estimates 1,880 solar installers on payrolls in New Jersey, 6.0% of the 31,350 nationwide. Only 3 states have more.
The trade is a bigger part of the local job market than it is nationally: 0.4 of every 1,000 jobs in New Jersey, 2.2 times the national share.
What a solar installation company in New Jersey should charge
Higher wages in New Jersey go straight into the price. Take a solar installation company in New Jersey paying the state median of $37.96 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 | $37.96 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $84,997 |
| Break-even rate | ($84,997 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $116.66 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $116.66 ÷ 0.85 | $137.25 |
That is $137.25 per billable hour, 3.6 times the wage, and $21.79 more than the $115.46 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $49.06 in New Jersey, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $156.75.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $29.40, the rate only drops to $122.22.
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.