- The middle half earn between $24.26 and $29.63 an hour.
- Only 5 states pay solar installers more at the median.
- Washington pays less than its only neighbor, Oregon.
- At the state median wage, a solar installation company needs to bill about $122.62 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Solar Installer pay in Washington, 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 | $24.25 | $50,440 | $20.00 |
| 25th percentile | $24.26 | $50,450 | $22.45 |
| Median | $29.63 | $61,630 | $25.55 |
| 75th percentile | $29.63 | $61,630 | $30.23 |
| 90th percentile | $29.64 | $61,640 | $38.45 |
| Average (mean) | $27.90 | $58,030 | $27.84 |
Pay is bunched up in Washington. The top tenth earn $29.64 an hour or more, about 1.2 times the $24.25 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 ($24.25 against $20.00) but the ceiling is lower ($29.64 against $38.45), which squeezes pay toward the middle.
The average wage ($27.90) is a little under the median, so the low end of the range stretches further than the high end in Washington.
How Washington compares with other states
Over a full year, the Washington median of $61,630 is $8,490 more than the national $53,140.
In the state ranking, Washington sits 6th, between Ohio ($30.00) and Maine ($29.43). The range runs from $20.37 in South Dakota to $37.96 in New Jersey.
Every one of the neighboring states pays solar installers more than Washington. The closest is Oregon at $31.88, and the biggest gap is with Oregon.
These are wages as paid, not adjusted for what it costs to live in Washington. Rent, home prices and taxes decide how far a higher wage goes.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Washington |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | $29.63 | $61,630 | |
| Oregon | $31.88 | $66,320 | +$2.25 an hour |
How many solar installers work in Washington
BLS did not publish a count of solar installers employed in Washington 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 Washington should charge
Higher wages in Washington go straight into the price. Take a solar installation company in Washington paying the state median of $29.63 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 | $29.63 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $66,345 |
| Break-even rate | ($66,345 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $104.23 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $104.23 ÷ 0.85 | $122.62 |
That is $122.62 per billable hour, 4.1 times the wage, and $7.17 more than the $115.46 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $29.63 in Washington, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $122.62.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $24.26, the rate only drops to $113.19.
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.