LED & Solar recruiters serving Birmingham.
BLS counts 233 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 Birmingham.
BLS counts about 2,880 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Birmingham metro, the largest group being electricians (about 2,780). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the LED & Solar hub.
Solar PV Installer
Birmingham: BLS does not publish a local figure for this occupation.
NABCEP-Certified Solar Technician
Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician
Birmingham: 2,780 employed · $56,630 median, 99th-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
Birmingham: 810 employed · $79,330 median, 41st-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)
Birmingham: 3,720 employed · $71,280 median, 102nd-highest of 112 metros
Low-Voltage/Controls Technician
Birmingham: 100 employed · $73,390 median, 48th-highest of 107 metros
What LED & Solar roles earn in Birmingham.
BLS publishes no Birmingham pay for solar photovoltaic installers; nationally the median is $53,140. Electricians in Birmingham earn a median $56,630, 10% under the $63,190 national figure, and 99th of 112 metros. Pay runs $38,880 at the tenth percentile to $78,550 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment, at $73,390 against $74,090 nationally. BLS withholds Birmingham pay for one occupation in the table.
| Role | Birmingham 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) | – | – | $53,140 | – | – |
| Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician · Solar ElectricianElectricians (47-2111) | $56,630 | $38,880–$78,550 | $63,190 | −10% | 2,780 |
| 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) | $79,330 | $48,290–$129,330 | $78,740 | +1% | 810 |
| Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty)First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $71,280 | $48,070–$123,700 | $79,920 | −11% | 3,720 |
| Low-Voltage/Controls TechnicianElectrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment (49-2094) | $73,390 | $31,640–$123,860 | $74,090 | −1% | 100 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Birmingham 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 Birmingham's LED & solar market has changed since 2018.
The number of nonresidential electrical contractors in Birmingham rose from 180 in 2018 to 233 in 2023, up 29%, ahead of the 6% national rise. Headcount and pay for those firms are withheld in Birmingham, so the occupation figures above are the better guide to what hiring costs.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: business locations | 180 | 233 | +29% |
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: employment | 2,920 | – | – |
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: average annual pay | $53,450 | – | – |
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
How Birmingham's LED and solar market compares
| Metro | Commercial employers |
|---|---|
| Birmingham | 233 |
| Huntsville | 70 |
BLS OEWS occupation figures and QCEW business-location counts; a dash means not published.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Birmingham metro. Employers are counted by business location.
LED & Solar licensing in Alabama.
The state board issues electrical contractor and journeyman electrician licenses. Its site does not list a solar-specific license. The same state rules apply in Huntsville, so candidates licensed there can work in Birmingham without re-qualifying.
Licensing authority: Alabama Board of Electrical Contractors. Confirm current rules with the agency.
Nearby markets competing for Birmingham talent.
The closest metro we cover is Huntsville, about 85 miles away.
| Metro | Distance | Employed | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | – | – | – |
| Huntsville | 84 mi | – | – |
| Chattanooga | 135 mi | – | – |
| Atlanta | 140 mi | – | – |
| Nashville | 183 mi | – | – |
| Pensacola | 216 mi | – | – |
BLS OEWS, May 2025; straight-line miles.
What else is competing for Birmingham crews.
Not LED & solar work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Birmingham in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- UAB Biomedical Research and Psychology Building$190MBroke ground June 2024, completing summer 2026
An 8-story, 228,735 sq ft research facility housing wet and dry labs for the Heersink School of Medicine and the Department of Psychology. Lab-grade mechanical, electrical, and process-utility construction at a scale most Birmingham contractors rarely see.
- UAB Hospital North Pavilion / emergency department overhaul$73M ($38M North Pavilion permit)Multi-year, phased
Adds 59 new exam rooms and 66,030 sq ft of new construction to boost emergency-care capacity. Hospital-grade mechanical, medical gas plumbing, and ICRA-compliant construction.
These are the 2 projects we track in Birmingham. The Birmingham market page covers hiring conditions across every trade here.
What credentials matter for LED & solar, and what kills offers in Birmingham.
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 Birmingham.
Which LED & solar roles pay the most in Birmingham?
Of the roles we recruit for, 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 pays the most in Birmingham, a $79,330 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Low-Voltage/Controls Technician at $73,390, 7% below it. Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician is the lowest-paid field role at $56,630. Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty) trails national pay the most (11% below).
How many nonresidential electrical contractors operate in Birmingham?
BLS counted 233 nonresidential electrical contractors in Birmingham in 2023. Up from 180 in 2018, a 29% 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.
Can Birmingham employers recruit solar photovoltaic installers from nearby metros?
Not easily. None of the other metros we cover within 300 miles of Birmingham has published BLS figures for solar photovoltaic installers, so a search here mostly has to be won locally or by relocating someone from farther away.
Every hire from zero is a tax on your team.
233 nonresidential electrical contractors in Birmingham are hiring from the same local pool. Let's get your next hire lined up first.
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