Kentucky Solar jobs: 2,268 employed (2024)
As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Kentucky employs 2,268 people in the solar sector — about 0.6% of the U.S. total. That makes Kentucky the 31st-largest state for solar jobs nationwide.
Solar Jobs in Kentucky (2024)
National share: 0.61% of all U.S. solar jobs.
Typical Median Wage
1. Employment Landscape
Kentucky ranks 31st out of 51 U.S. states in solar employment. At 2,268 workers, the state sits below the 25th-ranked Hawaii’s tally by 1,815 jobs, and trails the national leader California by 114,112 solar workers.
1.1 Kentucky’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; Kentucky accounts for 2,268 of them.
1.3 Where Kentucky sits in its own mix
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 25,562 | #28 |
| Electric Vehicles | 2,954 | #11 |
| Solar | 2,268 | #31 |
| Storage & Grid | 822 | #31 |
| Wind | 298 | #47 |
| Hydropower | 154 | #37 |
| Clean Fuels | 142 | #34 |
| Nuclear | 122 | #33 |
1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Kentucky
Every solar-related sub-category reported for Kentucky in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.
2. Pay & Career Roles in Kentucky
Kentucky contributes 0.61% of the nation’s solar workforce. Within Kentucky’s own clean-energy economy, solar accounts for 7.0% of total clean-energy jobs (2,268 of 32,322 workers).
Cost-of-living in Kentucky is roughly 10.7% lower the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for solar roles in Kentucky is shown alongside the national BLS figure.
| Role | National median | Kentucky-adjusted | Job Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrician | $61,590 | $55,000 | 3 |
| Solar Photovoltaic Installer | $51,860 | $46,311 | 2 |
See all 2 solar occupations with national wages and skills →
4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Kentucky employers rate 20.9% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 26.6% as “somewhat difficult”) — on par with the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 47.5% of Kentucky’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 | 78,131 |
| Construction | 20,948 |
| Other Services | 13,174 |
| Trade | 11,333 |
| Professional Services | 9,708 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 8,485 |
| Utilities | 7,670 |
| Mining and Extraction | 6,045 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 558 |
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.