- The middle half earn between $21.94 and $25.45 an hour.
- Pennsylvania is 26th of the 32 states with published figures, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- Pennsylvania pays more than 1 of its 4 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 1,210 solar installers on payrolls in Pennsylvania.
- At the state median wage, a solar installation company needs to bill about $110.91 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Solar Installer pay in Pennsylvania, 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 | $19.68 | $40,940 | $20.00 |
| 25th percentile | $21.94 | $45,630 | $22.45 |
| Median | $22.96 | $47,760 | $25.55 |
| 75th percentile | $25.45 | $52,940 | $30.23 |
| 90th percentile | $29.45 | $61,250 | $38.45 |
| Average (mean) | $24.36 | $50,680 | $27.84 |
Pay is bunched up in Pennsylvania. The top tenth earn $29.45 an hour or more, about 1.5 times the $19.68 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 $0.32 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $9.00 less than the national top tenth.
The average, $24.36, is close to the median, so pay sits fairly evenly around the middle.
How Pennsylvania compares with other states
Over a full year, the Pennsylvania median of $47,760 is $5,380 less than the national $53,140.
In the state ranking, Pennsylvania sits 26th, between Georgia ($22.98) and Michigan ($22.63). The range runs from $20.37 in South Dakota to $37.96 in New Jersey.
Against its neighboring states, Pennsylvania is in the middle: New Jersey, New York and Ohio pay more, and Maryland pays less.
BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs. Lower pay often comes with lower housing costs, so the gap in take-home value can be smaller than the gap in wages.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Pennsylvania |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | $22.96 | $47,760 | |
| Maryland | $21.84 | $45,430 | −$1.12 an hour |
| New Jersey | $37.96 | $78,950 | +$15.00 an hour |
| New York | $27.00 | $56,160 | +$4.04 an hour |
| Ohio | $30.00 | $62,400 | +$7.04 an hour |
How many solar installers work in Pennsylvania
About 1,210 solar installers work on payrolls in Pennsylvania, 3.9% of the 31,350 nationwide, the 7th largest count among the states.
That is 0.2 of every 1,000 jobs in Pennsylvania, close to the trade's share of jobs nationally.
What a solar installation company in Pennsylvania should charge
A lower wage helps the price less than you might expect, because the overhead does not shrink with it. Here is a solar installation company in Pennsylvania paying the state median of $22.96, on the labor rate calculator's 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 | $22.96 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $51,410 |
| Break-even rate | ($51,410 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $94.27 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $94.27 ÷ 0.85 | $110.91 |
That is $110.91 per billable hour, 4.8 times the wage, and $4.55 less than the $115.46 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $25.45 in Pennsylvania, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $115.28.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $21.94, the rate only drops to $109.12.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
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.