LED & Solar recruiters serving Indianapolis.
At a $39,690 median, solar photovoltaic installers in Indianapolis earn 25% less than nationally; about 240 work in the metro. BLS counts 231 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 Indianapolis.
BLS counts about 6,080 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Indianapolis metro, the largest group being electricians (about 5,390). Relative to the size of the local economy, solar photovoltaic installers are more concentrated here than nationally (location quotient 1.08). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the LED & Solar hub.
Solar PV Installer
Indianapolis: 240 employed · $39,690 median, 39th-highest of 39 metros
NABCEP-Certified Solar Technician
Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician
Indianapolis: 5,390 employed · $65,130 median, 47th-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
Indianapolis: 1,690 employed · $76,730 median, 69th-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)
Indianapolis: 6,250 employed · $85,300 median, 26th-highest of 112 metros
Low-Voltage/Controls Technician
Indianapolis: 450 employed · $64,870 median, 72nd-highest of 107 metros
What LED & Solar roles earn in Indianapolis.
Solar photovoltaic installers in Indianapolis earn a median $39,690, 25% under the $53,140 national figure, and 39th of 39 metros. Pay runs $39,660 at the tenth percentile to $54,830 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is electricians, at $65,130 against $63,190 nationally.
| Role | Indianapolis 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) | $39,690 | $39,660–$54,830 | $53,140 | −25% | 240 |
| Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician · Solar ElectricianElectricians (47-2111) | $65,130 | $41,610–$98,690 | $63,190 | +3% | 5,390 |
| 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) | $76,730 | $54,900–$108,380 | $78,740 | −3% | 1,690 |
| Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty)First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $85,300 | $59,730–$117,800 | $79,920 | +7% | 6,250 |
| Low-Voltage/Controls TechnicianElectrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment (49-2094) | $64,870 | $38,830–$84,130 | $74,090 | −12% | 450 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Indianapolis 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 Indianapolis's LED & solar market has changed since 2018.
The number of nonresidential electrical contractors in Indianapolis rose from 220 in 2018 to 231 in 2023, up 5%, close to the 6% national change. Headcount at those firms went up 17%, to about 5,438 people. Average annual pay there went from $62,057 to $73,177 (+18%), in step with the 21% national increase.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: business locations | 220 | 231 | +5% |
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: employment | 4,658 | 5,438 | +17% |
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: average annual pay | $62,057 | $73,177 | +18% |
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
Indianapolis runs 8% more LED and solar workers per job than the country as a whole — above the national concentration. More per job means more people to reach, and more employers reaching them.
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 Indianapolis's LED and solar market compares
Among the 37 metros we cover with published BLS figures, Indianapolis ranks 19th for headcount, 37th for median pay and 23rd for concentration for solar photovoltaic installers. Pay here is among the lowest we see, which makes relocation offers from higher-paying metros a real retention risk.
What this means for hiring:For LED and solar employers in Indianapolis, the pool is about the national norm for its size and local employers are adding people, so expect competing offers on experienced candidates and keep the process short.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Indianapolis metro. Employers are counted by business location.
LED & Solar licensing in Indiana.
Indiana does not license electricians at state level. The Indiana Professional Licensing Agency regulates plumbing, engineering, home inspectors, manufactured home installers and about forty other professions, but its list contains no electrician, electrical contractor or solar contractor category, so electrical licensing is left to cities and counties. In the Indianapolis metro the license is issued through the Board of Electrical Examiners and the Department of Business and Neighborhood Services under Chapter 875 of the Indianapolis and Marion County Revised Code, which pairs a company electrical contractor license with a named craft license holder and renews on odd-numbered years. Other Indiana cities run their own separate programs, so verify the license for each jurisdiction where crews will pull permits.
Licensing authority: Licensed at municipal level: Indianapolis Board of Electrical Examiners and Department of Business and Neighborhood Services. Confirm current rules with the agency.
We have not closed an LED & solar search in Indianapolis yet. Here is what we have closed.
These are other trades in the same market. We would rather show you the searches we have actually run in Indianapolis than imply a record in this trade that we do not have yet.
- Sheet Metal ForemanA commercial roofing company needed a foreman who could run service crews and still turn a wrench; we filled it inside a week.
- Commercial Sheet Metal Roofing ForemanTen weeks to find a foreman who could credibly run both the hands-on and the supervisory side of sheet metal roofing.
- Roofing ForemanThe foreman we placed had worked for this same roofing company a decade earlier - about as close to a known quantity as a search gets.
Nearby markets competing for Indianapolis talent.
The closest metro we cover is Cincinnati, about 100 miles away.
| Metro | Distance | Employed | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indianapolis | – | 240 | $39,690 |
| Cincinnati | 98 mi | – | – |
| Dayton | 104 mi | – | – |
| Louisville | 107 mi | – | – |
| Chicago | 164 mi | – | – |
| Columbus | 168 mi | – | – |
BLS OEWS, May 2025; straight-line miles.
What else is competing for Indianapolis crews.
Not LED & solar work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Indianapolis in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- Sabey Corp data center campus (Camby Rd)$4BGroundbreaking expected 2026
130-acre hyperscale data center campus southwest of Indianapolis, cleared its initial hearing-examiner approval. Adds mission-critical mechanical and electrical demand to a region already absorbing the LEAP buildout.
- Meta Lebanon data center campus$10BOngoing, Boone County
A second major hyperscale build in the same Boone County corridor as LEAP - meaning the pharma manufacturing buildout and a $10B data center are drawing on the same regional labor pool simultaneously.
- LEAP Lebanon Innovation District / Eli Lilly manufacturing$13B (Lilly investment)Construction through 2027
A new pharmaceutical manufacturing district in Boone County, just northwest of Indianapolis, expected to generate over 5,000 construction jobs during build-out plus roughly 1,300 permanent high-skill roles at full operation. Life-sciences-grade mechanical, electrical, and process piping work at a scale the region has not seen before.
Showing 3 of 5 projects tracked in this metro. The Indianapolis market page lists them all.
What credentials matter for LED & solar, and what kills offers in Indianapolis.
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 Indianapolis.
What do solar photovoltaic installers earn in Indianapolis?
BLS puts the Indianapolis median for solar photovoltaic installers at $39,690 a year, 25% below the $53,140 national median. That ranks 39th of 39 metros with published figures, in the bottom quarter. Pay is bunched together here, $39,660 to $54,830 across the 10th to 90th percentile and only a 1.4x gap, so small differences in an offer are noticed.
Is it hard to hire solar photovoltaic installers in Indianapolis?
It is about average. Solar photovoltaic installers are as common in Indianapolis as they are nationally (location quotient 1.08), with about 240 in the metro. The 231 nonresidential electrical contractors here average about 24 employees per location.
Which LED & solar roles pay the most in Indianapolis?
Of the roles we recruit for, Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty) pays the most in Indianapolis, an $85,300 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician at $65,130, 24% below it. Solar PV Installer is the lowest-paid field role at $39,690. Relative to national pay, Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty) is the strongest-paying role here (7% above). Solar PV Installer trails national pay the most (25% below).
How many nonresidential electrical contractors operate in Indianapolis?
BLS counted 231 nonresidential electrical contractors in Indianapolis in 2023, employing about 5,438 people between them. Up from 220 in 2018, a 5% increase against 6% growth nationally. That averages 24 people per location. They pay an average of $73,177, 14% below the $84,633 national average for the same kind of employer. BLS counts commercial solar and LED retrofit firms under nonresidential electrical contractors.
Which nearby metros compete with Indianapolis for solar photovoltaic installers?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Detroit (240 miles, about 140, $48,020 median). Detroit pays 21% more, which is where Indianapolis employers tend to lose people.
The seat is open. The pipeline should not be.
231 nonresidential electrical contractors in Indianapolis are drawing on the same 240 solar photovoltaic installers. Let's get your next hire lined up first.
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