- The middle half earn between $23.70 and $28.22 an hour.
- New York ranks 12th of the 32 states with published figures for median pay in this trade.
- New York pays more than 3 of its 5 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 1,230 solar installers on payrolls in New York.
- At the state median wage, a solar installation company needs to bill about $118.00 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Solar Installer pay in New York, 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 | $22.42 | $46,630 | $20.00 |
| 25th percentile | $23.70 | $49,290 | $22.45 |
| Median | $27.00 | $56,160 | $25.55 |
| 75th percentile | $28.22 | $58,700 | $30.23 |
| 90th percentile | $35.95 | $74,770 | $38.45 |
| Average (mean) | $27.38 | $56,940 | $27.84 |
Pay is bunched up in New York. The top tenth earn $35.95 an hour or more, about 1.6 times the $22.42 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.
The floor is higher than nationally ($22.42 against $20.00) but the ceiling is lower ($35.95 against $38.45), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average, $27.38, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How New York compares with other states
Over a full year, the New York median of $56,160 is $3,020 more than the national $53,140.
In the state ranking, New York sits 12th, between Iowa ($27.28) and Connecticut ($26.73). The range runs from $20.37 in South Dakota to $37.96 in New Jersey.
Against its neighboring states, New York is in the middle: Massachusetts and New Jersey pay more, and Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Vermont pay less.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in New York. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against New York |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $27.00 | $56,160 | |
| Connecticut | $26.73 | $55,590 | −$0.27 an hour |
| Massachusetts | $28.45 | $59,180 | +$1.45 an hour |
| New Jersey | $37.96 | $78,950 | +$10.96 an hour |
| Pennsylvania | $22.96 | $47,760 | −$4.04 an hour |
| Vermont | $23.79 | $49,490 | −$3.21 an hour |
How many solar installers work in New York
About 1,230 solar installers work on payrolls in New York, 3.9% of the 31,350 nationwide, the 6th 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, 0.63 times the national share.
What a solar installation company in New York should charge
Higher wages in New York go straight into the price. Take a solar installation company in New York paying the state median of $27.00 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 | $27.00 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $60,456 |
| Break-even rate | ($60,456 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $100.30 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $100.30 ÷ 0.85 | $118.00 |
That is $118.00 per billable hour, 4.4 times the wage, and $2.55 more than the $115.46 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $28.22 in New York, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $120.15.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $23.70, the rate only drops to $112.21.
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.