LED & Solar recruiters serving Minneapolis.
BLS counts 289 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 Minneapolis.
BLS counts about 9,680 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Minneapolis metro, the largest group being electricians (about 8,810). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the LED & Solar hub.
Solar PV Installer
Minneapolis: BLS does not publish a local figure for this occupation.
NABCEP-Certified Solar Technician
Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician
Minneapolis: 8,810 employed · $81,890 median, 8th-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
Minneapolis: 3,100 employed · $82,440 median, 19th-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)
Minneapolis: 8,310 employed · $103,290 median, 8th-highest of 112 metros
Low-Voltage/Controls Technician
Minneapolis: 870 employed · $79,300 median, 23rd-highest of 107 metros
What LED & Solar roles earn in Minneapolis.
BLS publishes no Minneapolis pay for solar photovoltaic installers; nationally the median is $53,140. Electricians in Minneapolis earn a median $81,890, 30% over the $63,190 national figure, and 8th of 112 metros. Pay runs $48,970 at the tenth percentile to $123,250 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment, at $79,300 against $74,090 nationally. BLS withholds Minneapolis pay for one occupation in the table.
| Role | Minneapolis 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) | $81,890 | $48,970–$123,250 | $63,190 | +30% | 8,810 |
| 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) | $82,440 | $59,710–$125,460 | $78,740 | +5% | 3,100 |
| Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty)First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $103,290 | $62,510–$130,160 | $79,920 | +29% | 8,310 |
| Low-Voltage/Controls TechnicianElectrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment (49-2094) | $79,300 | $60,590–$100,610 | $74,090 | +7% | 870 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Minneapolis 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 Minneapolis's LED & solar market has changed since 2018.
Minneapolis lost nonresidential electrical contractors between 2018 and 2023, from 296 business locations to 289 (down 2%), behind the 6% growth nationally.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: business locations | 296 | 289 | −2% |
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: employment | – | 8,824 | – |
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: average annual pay | – | $102,026 | – |
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 Minneapolis's LED and solar market compares
What this means for hiring:Local LED and solar employers in Minneapolis are adding headcount, which means more employers competing for the same people.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Minneapolis metro. Employers are counted by business location.
LED & Solar licensing in Minnesota.
Solar PV systems must be installed by a Minnesota-licensed electrical contractor. Since July 1, 2023, companies that contract with homeowners for solar also need a residential building contractor or remodeler license. The Minneapolis metro crosses a state line, so check the rules in the neighboring state too for crews that work on both sides.
Licensing authority: Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. Confirm current rules with the agency.
We have not closed an LED & solar search in Minneapolis 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 Minneapolis than imply a record in this trade that we do not have yet.
- Asphalt Sales RepresentativeA decade of B2B territory sales in heavy building materials and industrial software.
Nearby markets competing for Minneapolis talent.
The closest metro we cover is Madison, about 235 miles away.
| Metro | Distance | Employed | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis | – | – | – |
| Madison | 233 mi | – | – |
| Des Moines | 234 mi | – | – |
| Omaha | 291 mi | – | – |
| Milwaukee | 298 mi | – | – |
BLS OEWS, May 2025; straight-line miles.
What else is competing for Minneapolis crews.
Not LED & solar work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Minneapolis in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- Twin Cities data center corridor$3B+ regionalRolling
Cold-climate data center growth (free-cooling advantage). Mechanical PMs with cooling specialty and high-voltage electrical crews in demand.
- Medtronic campus & med-device facility expansionScale not independently verified regionally (Medtronic's $10B figure found in public sources is a national commitment, not Twin-Cities-specific)Rolling
Twin Cities is the med-device capital of the US. Cleanroom-grade mechanical, process piping, controlled-environment HVAC. Steady multi-year demand for cleanroom-experienced trades.
- Corporate HQ campus & entertainment-district projects$1.5B+Through 2029
Fortune 500 HQ renovations (Target, U.S. Bancorp, Best Buy) plus stadium-district development. Corporate-institutional MEP at scale.
Showing 3 of 6 projects tracked in this metro. The Minneapolis market page lists them all.
What credentials matter for LED & solar, and what kills offers in Minneapolis.
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 Minneapolis.
Which LED & solar roles pay the most in Minneapolis?
Of the roles we recruit for, Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty) pays the most in Minneapolis, a $103,290 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician at $81,890, 21% below it. Low-Voltage/Controls Technician is the lowest-paid field role at $79,300. Relative to national pay, Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician is the strongest-paying role here (30% above).
How many nonresidential electrical contractors operate in Minneapolis?
BLS counted 289 nonresidential electrical contractors in Minneapolis in 2023, employing about 8,824 people between them. Down from 296 in 2018, a 2% decline against 6% growth nationally. That averages 31 people per location, so a few large operators dominate hiring. They pay an average of $102,026, 21% above the $84,633 national average for the same kind of employer. BLS counts commercial solar and LED retrofit firms under nonresidential electrical contractors.
Can Minneapolis employers recruit solar photovoltaic installers from nearby metros?
Not easily. None of the other metros we cover within 300 miles of Minneapolis 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.
289 nonresidential electrical contractors in Minneapolis are hiring from the same local pool. Let's get your next hire lined up first.
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