Solar · Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Solar jobs: 6,914 employed (2024)

As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Pennsylvania employs 6,914 people in the solar sector — about 1.9% of the U.S. total. That makes Pennsylvania the 16th-largest state for solar jobs nationwide.

Solar Jobs in Pennsylvania (2024)

6,914 Rank #16 of 51

National share: 1.87% of all U.S. solar jobs.

Typical Median Wage

$56,725
Sector-wide BLS OES median across 2 tracked occupations.

1. Employment Landscape

Pennsylvania ranks 16th out of 51 U.S. states in solar employment. At 6,914 workers, the state sits above the 25th-ranked Hawaii’s tally by 2,831 jobs, and trails the national leader California by 109,466 solar workers.

1.1 Pennsylvania’s position vs. the top 10 and median states

1st · California
116,380
16. Pennsylvania
6,914
25th · Hawaii
4,083
51st · Alaska
163

1.2 Share of U.S. total

The solar sector nationwide employs roughly 370,556 workers; Pennsylvania accounts for 6,914 of them.

1.3 Where Pennsylvania sits in its own mix

Sector Jobs (2024) National rank
Energy Efficiency 76,289 #11
Solar 6,914 #16
Nuclear 4,107 #3
Wind 3,314 #11
Electric Vehicles 2,871 #12
Storage & Grid 2,312 #10
Clean Fuels 659 #6
Hydropower 567 #17

1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Pennsylvania

Every solar-related sub-category reported for Pennsylvania in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.

Solar
6,914

2. Pay & Career Roles in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania contributes 1.87% of the nation’s solar workforce. Within Pennsylvania’s own clean-energy economy, solar accounts for 7.1% of total clean-energy jobs (6,914 of 97,033 workers).

Cost-of-living in Pennsylvania is roughly 2.3% lower the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for solar roles in Pennsylvania is shown alongside the national BLS figure.

RoleNational medianPennsylvania-adjustedJob Zone
Electrician $61,590 $60,173 3
Solar Photovoltaic Installer $51,860 $50,667 2

See all 2 solar occupations with national wages and skills →

4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix

Pennsylvania employers rate 27.5% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 27.7% as “somewhat difficult”) — tighter than the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 55.2% of Pennsylvania’s clean-energy roles see some level of hiring friction.

4.1 Employer hiring difficulty

Did not hire
41.2%
Somewhat difficult hiring
27.7%
Very difficult hiring
27.5%
Not at all difficult hiring
3.7%

4.2 Jobs by NAICS industry group

Industry (NAICS group)Jobs (2024)
Construction 68,379
Manufacturing 60,115
Other Services 42,556
Trade 41,939
Utilities 21,411
Professional Services 20,736
Mining and Extraction 16,880
Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows 10,083
Agriculture and Forestry 596

Frequently Asked Questions

How many solar jobs are there in Pennsylvania?
As of 2024, Pennsylvania has approximately 6,914 solar jobs — ranked 16th nationally.
What do these jobs pay?
Median wages across the tracked solar occupations range from $51,860 to $61,590 according to BLS OES.
Is Pennsylvania a good place to take one of these jobs?
Pennsylvania is currently tight (employers here struggle to fill roles). Cost-of-living runs 2.3% below the U.S. average, which raises or lowers real take-home on a BLS national median by a similar amount.

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.