LED & Solar recruiters serving Madison.
BLS counts 76 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 Madison.
BLS counts about 1,850 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Madison metro, the largest group being electricians (about 1,760). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the LED & Solar hub.
Solar PV Installer
Madison: BLS does not publish a local figure for this occupation.
NABCEP-Certified Solar Technician
Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician
Madison: 1,760 employed · $78,430 median, 13th-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
Madison: 720 employed · $73,420 median, 85th-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)
Madison: 2,320 employed · $93,290 median, 18th-highest of 112 metros
Low-Voltage/Controls Technician
Madison: 90 employed · $74,980 median, 43rd-highest of 107 metros
What LED & Solar roles earn in Madison.
BLS publishes no Madison pay for solar photovoltaic installers; nationally the median is $53,140. Electricians in Madison earn a median $78,430, 24% over the $63,190 national figure, and 13th of 112 metros. Pay runs $45,050 at the tenth percentile to $102,860 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment, at $74,980 against $74,090 nationally. BLS withholds Madison pay for one occupation in the table.
| Role | Madison 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) | $78,430 | $45,050–$102,860 | $63,190 | +24% | 1,760 |
| 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) | $73,420 | $55,710–$109,260 | $78,740 | −7% | 720 |
| Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty)First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $93,290 | $53,750–$128,400 | $79,920 | +17% | 2,320 |
| Low-Voltage/Controls TechnicianElectrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment (49-2094) | $74,980 | $46,730–$93,140 | $74,090 | +1% | 90 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Madison 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 Madison's LED & solar market has changed since 2018.
Madison lost nonresidential electrical contractors between 2018 and 2023, from 87 business locations to 76 (down 13%), behind the 6% growth nationally. Headcount and pay for those firms are withheld in Madison, so the occupation figures above are the better guide to what hiring costs.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: business locations | 87 | 76 | −13% |
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: employment | 1,913 | – | – |
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: average annual pay | $76,448 | – | – |
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 Madison's LED and solar market compares
| Metro | Commercial employers |
|---|---|
| Milwaukee | 155 |
| Madison | 76 |
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, Madison metro. Employers are counted by business location.
LED & Solar licensing in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin licenses journeyman electricians and other electrical credentials statewide under Wis. Stat. 101.862. Its license page lists no solar-specific credential. The same state rules apply in Milwaukee, so candidates licensed there can work in Madison without re-qualifying.
Licensing authority: Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services. Confirm current rules with the agency.
Nearby markets competing for Madison talent.
The closest metro we cover is Milwaukee, about 75 miles away.
| Metro | Distance | Employed | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | – | – | – |
| Milwaukee | 76 mi | – | – |
| Chicago | 123 mi | – | – |
| Grand Rapids | 189 mi | – | – |
| Minneapolis | 233 mi | – | – |
| Des Moines | 238 mi | – | – |
BLS OEWS, May 2025; straight-line miles.
What else is competing for Madison crews.
Not LED & solar work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Madison in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- Epic Systems sixth campus ("Other Worlds")$13.2M water/sewer + $20M road work reimbursements (public infrastructure support)First buildings occupied early 2026
A "Black Hole" parking structure with 2,000+ stalls, three new office buildings, a food services building, and a 5.5-acre underground parking ramp on part of Epic's ~1,700-acre Verona campus.
- UW Health University Hospital addition$177MConcluding late 2026
A six-story addition with 22 emergency department rooms, 22 flexible care beds, 48 inpatient rooms, and a dedicated trauma/life support center.
- UW Health East Madison Hospital addition$133MFinishing end of 2026
A one-story addition adding 6 operating rooms, 14 inpatient beds, and 60 post-surgery care spaces.
These are the 3 projects we track in Madison. The Madison market page covers hiring conditions across every trade here.
What credentials matter for LED & solar, and what kills offers in Madison.
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 Madison.
Which LED & solar roles pay the most in Madison?
Of the roles we recruit for, Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty) pays the most in Madison, a $93,290 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician at $78,430, 16% below it. Low-Voltage/Controls Technician is the lowest-paid field role at $74,980. Relative to national pay, Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician is the strongest-paying role here (24% above). 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 trails national pay the most (7% below).
How many nonresidential electrical contractors operate in Madison?
BLS counted 76 nonresidential electrical contractors in Madison in 2023. Down from 87 in 2018, a 13% decline 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 Madison for solar photovoltaic installers?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Indianapolis (283 miles, about 240, $39,690 median).
Every hire from zero is a tax on your team.
76 nonresidential electrical contractors in Madison are hiring from the same local pool. Let's get your next hire lined up first.
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