LED & Solar recruiters serving Albany.
About 100 solar photovoltaic installers work in the Albany metro, at a $49,470 median. BLS counts 98 business locations of nonresidential electrical contractors across the metro. Below: local pay for every role we staff, the state licensing rules that apply and the nearby markets competing for the same people.
Positions we recruit for in Albany.
BLS counts about 2,060 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Albany metro, the largest group being electricians (about 1,820). Relative to the size of the local economy, solar photovoltaic installers are more concentrated here than nationally (location quotient 1.05). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the LED & Solar hub.
Solar PV Installer
Albany: 100 employed · $49,470 median, 29th-highest of 39 metros
NABCEP-Certified Solar Technician
Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician
Albany: 1,820 employed · $74,890 median, 29th-highest of 112 metros
Solar Electrician
Solar Project Manager
O*NET 47-1011.03 - Solar Energy Installation Managers, a Bright Outlook occupation; wage data rolls up to the parent 47-1011 group
Solar Estimator/Designer
Albany: 620 employed · $81,290 median, 29th-highest of 111 metros
Energy Auditor/Efficiency Consultant
O*NET 47-4011.01 - Energy Auditors; building energy assessments that often lead into LED retrofit and solar scoping
Solar O&M Technician
Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty)
Albany: 1,840 employed · $83,750 median, 28th-highest of 112 metros
Low-Voltage/Controls Technician
Albany: 140 employed · $79,710 median, 22nd-highest of 107 metros
What LED & Solar roles earn in Albany.
Solar photovoltaic installers in Albany earn a median $49,470, 7% under the $53,140 national figure, and 29th of 39 metros. Pay runs $41,040 at the tenth percentile to $61,510 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment, at $79,710 against $74,090 nationally.
| Role | Albany median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar PV Installer · NABCEP-Certified Solar Technician · Energy Auditor/Efficiency Consultant O*NET 47-4011.01 - Energy Auditors; building energy assessments that often lead into LED retrofit and solar scoping Solar O&M TechnicianSolar Photovoltaic Installers (47-2231) | $49,470 | $41,040–$61,510 | $53,140 | −7% | 100 |
| Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician · Solar ElectricianElectricians (47-2111) | $74,890 | $46,130–$106,520 | $63,190 | +19% | 1,820 |
| Solar Project Manager O*NET 47-1011.03 - Solar Energy Installation Managers, a Bright Outlook occupation; wage data rolls up to the parent 47-1011 group Solar Estimator/DesignerCost Estimators (13-1051) | $81,290 | $49,470–$130,060 | $78,740 | +3% | 620 |
| Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty)First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $83,750 | $60,440–$126,710 | $79,920 | +5% | 1,840 |
| Low-Voltage/Controls TechnicianElectrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment (49-2094) | $79,710 | $52,160–$109,920 | $74,090 | +8% | 140 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Albany metro. Range is 10th to 90th percentile; management and office roles are metro-wide. A metro ranking counts only the metros where BLS publishes that occupation.
How Albany's LED & solar market has changed since 2018.
The number of nonresidential electrical contractors in Albany rose from 95 in 2018 to 98 in 2023, up 3%, close to the 6% national change. Headcount and pay for those firms are withheld in Albany, so the occupation figures above are the better guide to what hiring costs.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: business locations | 95 | 98 | +3% |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private employers, annual averages. A dash means BLS did not publish the figure.
Free LED & Solar hiring resources.
Definitive Guide to LED & Solar · 2026 LED & Solar Salary Guide · 3-Step Interview Guide for LED & Solar
Albany runs 5% more LED and solar workers per job than the country as a whole — above the national concentration.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 , Solar Photovoltaic Installers (nearest published occupation for this trade). Metro-wide figures for the base occupation; the wage table above is role-specific and commercial.
How Albany's LED and solar market compares
Among the 37 metros we cover with published BLS figures, Albany ranks 29th for headcount, 27th for median pay and 24th for concentration for solar photovoltaic installers.
| Metro | Employed | Median pay | Concentration | Commercial employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 2,190 | $70,130 | 1.15 | 1,876 |
| Albany | 100 | $49,470 | 1.05 | 98 |
| Buffalo | – | – | – | 88 |
| Rochester | – | – | – | 90 |
| Syracuse | – | – | – | 63 |
BLS OEWS occupation figures and QCEW business-location counts; a dash means not published.
What this means for hiring:For LED and solar employers in Albany, the pool is about the national norm for its size, so difficulty depends on the role more than the market.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Albany metro. Employers are counted by business location.
LED & Solar licensing in New York.
New York has no statewide license for electricians or electrical contractors. The Department of State's own guidance describes master electricians as licensed by a municipality, and the only closely related state credential it issues is the security and fire alarm installer license, which covers alarm work rather than general electrical or solar PV installation. There is no separate state solar contractor license, so PV and LED retrofit work is performed under whichever municipal electrical license applies. Because these licenses are issued city by city and are generally not portable, verify the specific local license for each metro: a NYC Department of Buildings Master or Special Electrician license in New York City, and the equivalent from Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse or Albany upstate. The same state rules apply in New York, Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, so candidates licensed there can work in Albany without re-qualifying.
Licensing authority: Licensed at municipal level: NYC Department of Buildings, Buffalo Department of Permit and Inspection Services, Rochester Electrical Examining Board, City of Syracuse, Albany Electrical Examining Board. Confirm current rules with the agency.
Nearby markets competing for Albany talent.
The closest metro we cover is Hartford, about 80 miles away.
| Metro | Distance | Employed | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albany | – | 100 | $49,470 |
| Hartford | 82 mi | – | – |
| Worcester | 103 mi | – | – |
| Bridgeport | 106 mi | – | – |
| Syracuse | 124 mi | – | – |
| Scranton | 130 mi | – | – |
BLS OEWS, May 2025; straight-line miles.
What else is competing for Albany crews.
Not LED & solar work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Albany in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- GlobalFoundries Fab 8 expansion (Malta)$11.6B (plus $575M packaging/testing + $186M R&D)Began 2025, multi-year buildout
A new 358,000 sq ft semiconductor manufacturing facility on GlobalFoundries' existing Malta campus, creating 1,500+ direct jobs plus thousands of indirect jobs - the anchor of the region's two-decade-old chip cluster.
- Albany NanoTech High NA EUV Lithography Center$10B partnershipUnder construction
The first and only publicly-owned High NA Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography Center in North America, at NY CREATES' Albany NanoTech Complex - cutting-edge semiconductor R&D infrastructure.
- Downtown Albany Strategy$200M ($120M projects + $40M housing + $40M community)Multi-year rollout
A three-fund investment strategy to revitalize the capital city's core - major projects, housing, and public-space improvements.
Showing 3 of 4 projects tracked in this metro. The Albany market page lists them all.
What credentials matter for LED & solar, and what kills offers in Albany.
The 4 credentials that gate the work and the 4 things that most often end an LED & solar offer are the same in every market, kept in one place: LED & Solar credentials and offer risks, each linked to the body that issues it. What is local is the licensing rule above and the pay further up this page.
Frequently asked - LED & Solar hiring in Albany.
What do solar photovoltaic installers earn in Albany?
BLS puts the Albany median for solar photovoltaic installers at $49,470 a year, 7% below the $53,140 national median. That ranks 29th of 39 metros with published figures, in the middle of the pack. Pay is bunched together here, $41,040 to $61,510 across the 10th to 90th percentile and only a 1.5x gap, so small differences in an offer are noticed. Within New York, New York pays more, at $70,130.
Is it hard to hire solar photovoltaic installers in Albany?
It is about average. Solar photovoltaic installers are as common in Albany as they are nationally (location quotient 1.05), with about 100 in the metro.
Which LED & solar roles pay the most in Albany?
Of the roles we recruit for, Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty) pays the most in Albany, a $83,750 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Low-Voltage/Controls Technician at $79,710, 5% below it. Solar PV Installer is the lowest-paid field role at $49,470. Relative to national pay, Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician is the strongest-paying role here (19% above). Solar PV Installer trails national pay the most (7% below).
How many nonresidential electrical contractors operate in Albany?
BLS counted 98 nonresidential electrical contractors in Albany in 2023. Up from 95 in 2018, a 3% increase against 6% growth nationally. BLS withholds their combined headcount and pay here, which it does when a category is small enough that the figures could identify individual employers. BLS counts commercial solar and LED retrofit firms under nonresidential electrical contractors.
Which nearby metros compete with Albany for solar photovoltaic installers?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Providence (133 miles, about 110, $53,700 median), New York (135 miles, about 2,190, $70,130 median) and Boston (139 miles, about 380, $59,400 median). New York has the larger pool, so it is the first place to look for senior people willing to move. Providence pays 9% more, which is where Albany employers tend to lose people.
The seat is open. The pipeline should not be.
98 nonresidential electrical contractors in Albany are drawing on the same 100 solar photovoltaic installers. Let's get your next hire lined up first.
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