Ohio Solar jobs: 8,780 employed (2024)
As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Ohio employs 8,780 people in the solar sector — about 2.4% of the U.S. total. That makes Ohio the 11th-largest state for solar jobs nationwide.
Solar Jobs in Ohio (2024)
National share: 2.37% of all U.S. solar jobs.
Typical Median Wage
1. Employment Landscape
Ohio ranks 11th out of 51 U.S. states in solar employment. At 8,780 workers, the state sits above the 25th-ranked Hawaii’s tally by 4,697 jobs, and trails the national leader California by 107,600 solar workers.
1.1 Ohio’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; Ohio accounts for 8,780 of them.
1.3 Where Ohio sits in its own mix
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 81,397 | #8 |
| Solar | 8,780 | #11 |
| Electric Vehicles | 6,793 | #4 |
| Storage & Grid | 1,812 | #16 |
| Nuclear | 1,786 | #13 |
| Wind | 1,679 | #23 |
| Hydropower | 400 | #24 |
| Clean Fuels | 392 | #14 |
1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Ohio
Every solar-related sub-category reported for Ohio in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.
2. Pay & Career Roles in Ohio
Ohio contributes 2.37% of the nation’s solar workforce. Within Ohio’s own clean-energy economy, solar accounts for 8.5% of total clean-energy jobs (8,780 of 103,039 workers).
Cost-of-living in Ohio is roughly 8.2% lower the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for solar roles in Ohio is shown alongside the national BLS figure.
| Role | National median | Ohio-adjusted | Job Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electrician | $61,590 | $56,540 | 3 |
| Solar Photovoltaic Installer | $51,860 | $47,607 | 2 |
See all 2 solar occupations with national wages and skills →
4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Ohio employers rate 22.4% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 34.7% as “somewhat difficult”) — on par with the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 57.1% of Ohio’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 | 123,332 |
| Construction | 69,916 |
| Other Services | 38,912 |
| Trade | 35,576 |
| Professional Services | 27,103 |
| Utilities | 18,139 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 12,898 |
| Mining and Extraction | 5,568 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 681 |
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.