- The middle half earn between $22.94 and $28.34 an hour.
- Virginia ranks 22nd of the 32 states with published figures for median pay in this trade.
- Virginia pays more than both neighboring states.
- At the state median wage, a solar installation company needs to bill about $112.12 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Solar Installer pay in Virginia, 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 | $22.65 | $47,100 | $20.00 |
| 25th percentile | $22.94 | $47,700 | $22.45 |
| Median | $23.65 | $49,190 | $25.55 |
| 75th percentile | $28.34 | $58,940 | $30.23 |
| 90th percentile | $28.42 | $59,110 | $38.45 |
| Average (mean) | $25.56 | $53,160 | $27.84 |
Pay is bunched up in Virginia. The top tenth earn $28.42 an hour or more, about 1.3 times the $22.65 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 ($22.65 against $20.00) but the ceiling is lower ($28.42 against $38.45), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average wage, $25.56, sits 8% 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 Virginia compares with other states
Over a full year, the Virginia median of $49,190 is $3,950 less than the national $53,140.
In the state ranking, Virginia sits 22nd, between Vermont ($23.79) and New Mexico ($23.31). The range runs from $20.37 in South Dakota to $37.96 in New Jersey.
Virginia pays solar installers more than any of its neighboring states, Maryland and North Carolina. Someone working near the border can earn more by taking work on this side of it.
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 Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | $23.65 | $49,190 | |
| Maryland | $21.84 | $45,430 | −$1.81 an hour |
| North Carolina | $21.09 | $43,860 | −$2.56 an hour |
How many solar installers work in Virginia
BLS did not publish a count of solar installers employed in Virginia for May 2025. That happens when the survey sample is too thin to estimate the number with confidence. The wage figures above were published and are used as they are.
What a solar installation company in Virginia 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 Virginia paying the state median of $23.65, 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 | $23.65 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $52,955 |
| Break-even rate | ($52,955 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $95.30 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $95.30 ÷ 0.85 | $112.12 |
That is $112.12 per billable hour, 4.7 times the wage, and $3.34 less than the $115.46 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $28.34 in Virginia, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $120.36.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $22.94, the rate only drops to $110.87.
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.