- The middle half earn between $20.00 and $32.30 an hour.
- South Dakota is 32nd of the 32 states with published figures, in the bottom ten for this trade.
- South Dakota pays less than its only neighbor, Iowa.
- BLS counts about 50 solar installers on payrolls in South Dakota.
- At the state median wage, a solar installation company needs to bill about $106.36 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Solar Installer pay in South Dakota, 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 | $18.06 | $37,560 | $20.00 |
| 25th percentile | $20.00 | $41,600 | $22.45 |
| Median | $20.37 | $42,380 | $25.55 |
| 75th percentile | $32.30 | $67,180 | $30.23 |
| 90th percentile | $35.38 | $73,590 | $38.45 |
| Average (mean) | $25.57 | $53,180 | $27.84 |
From the bottom tenth ($18.06) to the top tenth ($35.38), the top of the scale pays about 2 times the bottom in South Dakota, close to the 1.9 times spread for solar installers nationwide.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $1.94 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $3.07 less than the national top tenth.
The average wage, $25.57, sits 26% above the median. A smaller group of higher earners pulls the average up, so the median is the better guide to what a typical solar installer makes.
How South Dakota compares with other states
Over a full year, the South Dakota median of $42,380 is $10,760 less than the national $53,140.
Every other state with published figures pays at least as much. The next lowest is North Carolina at $21.09; the highest is New Jersey at $37.96.
Every one of the neighboring states pays solar installers more than South Dakota. The closest is Iowa at $27.28, and the biggest gap is with Iowa.
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 South Dakota |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Dakota | $20.37 | $42,380 | |
| Iowa | $27.28 | $56,740 | +$6.91 an hour |
How many solar installers work in South Dakota
South Dakota has one of the smaller workforces in the trade: 50 solar installers on payrolls, 0.2% of the 31,350 nationwide.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 0.1 per 1,000 jobs, 0.51 times the national share.
What a solar installation company in South Dakota 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 South Dakota paying the state median of $20.37, 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 | $20.37 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $45,611 |
| Break-even rate | ($45,611 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $90.41 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $90.41 ÷ 0.85 | $106.36 |
That is $106.36 per billable hour, 5.2 times the wage, and $9.10 less than the $115.46 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $32.30 in South Dakota, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $127.31.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $20.00, the rate only drops to $105.71.
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.