Illinois Solar jobs: 7,158 employed (2024)
As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Illinois employs 7,158 people in the solar sector — about 1.9% of the U.S. total. That makes Illinois the 15th-largest state for solar jobs nationwide.
Solar Jobs in Illinois (2024)
National share: 1.93% of all U.S. solar jobs.
Typical Median Wage
1. Employment Landscape
Illinois ranks 15th out of 51 U.S. states in solar employment. At 7,158 workers, the state sits above the 25th-ranked Hawaii’s tally by 3,075 jobs, and trails the national leader California by 109,221 solar workers.
1.1 Illinois’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; Illinois accounts for 7,158 of them.
1.3 Where Illinois sits in its own mix
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 89,878 | #5 |
| Wind | 9,216 | #2 |
| Solar | 7,158 | #15 |
| Electric Vehicles | 4,525 | #8 |
| Nuclear | 4,209 | #2 |
| Storage & Grid | 2,789 | #8 |
| Hydropower | 979 | #12 |
| Clean Fuels | 464 | #11 |
1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Illinois
Every solar-related sub-category reported for Illinois in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.
2. Pay & Career Roles in Illinois
Illinois contributes 1.93% of the nation’s solar workforce. Within Illinois’s own clean-energy economy, solar accounts for 6.0% of total clean-energy jobs (7,158 of 119,217 workers).
Cost-of-living in Illinois is roughly 0.9% higher the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for solar roles in Illinois is shown alongside the national BLS figure.
| Role | National median | Illinois-adjusted | Job Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrician | $61,590 | $62,144 | 3 |
| Solar Photovoltaic Installer | $51,860 | $52,327 | 2 |
See all 2 solar occupations with national wages and skills →
4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Illinois employers rate 17.2% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 28.0% as “somewhat difficult”) — easier than the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 45.2% of Illinois’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) |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 79,577 |
| Construction | 64,186 |
| Professional Services | 47,035 |
| Other Services | 45,006 |
| Trade | 32,565 |
| Utilities | 22,832 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 12,286 |
| Mining and Extraction | 3,986 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 2,939 |
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.