Colorado Solar jobs: 9,312 employed (2024)
As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Colorado employs 9,312 people in the solar sector — about 2.5% of the U.S. total. That makes Colorado the 9th-largest state for solar jobs nationwide.
Solar Jobs in Colorado (2024)
National share: 2.51% of all U.S. solar jobs.
Typical Median Wage
1. Employment Landscape
Colorado ranks 9th out of 51 U.S. states in solar employment. At 9,312 workers, the state sits above the 25th-ranked Hawaii’s tally by 5,229 jobs, and trails the national leader California by 107,068 solar workers.
1.1 Colorado’s position vs. the top 10 and median states
1.2 Share of U.S. total
The solar sector nationwide employs roughly 370,556 workers; Colorado accounts for 9,312 of them.
1.3 Where Colorado sits in its own mix
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 40,318 | #23 |
| Solar | 9,312 | #9 |
| Wind | 7,753 | #4 |
| Storage & Grid | 2,166 | #14 |
| Electric Vehicles | 1,497 | #21 |
| Hydropower | 1,006 | #11 |
| Clean Fuels | 423 | #12 |
| Nuclear | 115 | #35 |
1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Colorado
Every solar-related sub-category reported for Colorado in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.
2. Pay & Career Roles in Colorado
Colorado contributes 2.51% of the nation’s solar workforce. Within Colorado’s own clean-energy economy, solar accounts for 14.9% of total clean-energy jobs (9,312 of 62,590 workers).
Cost-of-living in Colorado is roughly 5.4% higher the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for solar roles in Colorado is shown alongside the national BLS figure.
| Role | National median | Colorado-adjusted | Job Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrician | $61,590 | $64,916 | 3 |
| Solar Photovoltaic Installer | $51,860 | $54,660 | 2 |
See all 2 solar occupations with national wages and skills →
4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Colorado employers rate 19.1% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 32.1% as “somewhat difficult”) — on par with the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 51.2% of Colorado’s clean-energy roles see some level of hiring friction.
4.1 Employer hiring difficulty
4.2 Jobs by NAICS industry group
| Industry (NAICS group) | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Professional Services | 57,079 |
| Construction | 29,797 |
| Other Services | 22,936 |
| Mining and Extraction | 18,621 |
| Utilities | 11,048 |
| Trade | 10,989 |
| Manufacturing | 5,942 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 4,141 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 486 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Data source: U.S. Department of Energy — 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report (reflecting 2024 employment); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics; O*NET Occupation Database 29.1.
Last updated: April 2026.