LED & Solar recruiters serving Portland.
Solar photovoltaic installers in Portland earn a $66,320 median, 25% above the national figure, and about 210 of them work in the metro. BLS counts 253 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 Portland.
BLS counts about 8,090 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Portland metro, the largest group being electricians (about 7,340). Relative to the size of the local economy, solar photovoltaic installers are less concentrated here than nationally (location quotient 0.88). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the LED & Solar hub.
Solar PV Installer
Portland: 210 employed · $66,320 median, 6th-highest of 39 metros
NABCEP-Certified Solar Technician
Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician
Portland: 7,340 employed · $105,090 median, 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
Portland: 2,260 employed · $83,800 median, 15th-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)
Portland: 5,880 employed · $112,480 median, 4th-highest of 112 metros
Low-Voltage/Controls Technician
Portland: 540 employed · $95,360 median, 6th-highest of 107 metros
Hiring the same trade in another market? We recruit it in Ogden, UT too.
What LED & Solar roles earn in Portland.
Solar photovoltaic installers in Portland earn a median $66,320, 25% over the $53,140 national figure, and 6th of 39 metros. Pay runs $56,470 at the tenth percentile to $87,370 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is electricians, at $105,090 against $63,190 nationally.
| Role | Portland 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) | $66,320 | $56,470–$87,370 | $53,140 | +25% | 210 |
| Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician · Solar ElectricianElectricians (47-2111) | $105,090 | $60,360–$134,380 | $63,190 | +66% | 7,340 |
| 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) | $83,800 | $53,380–$141,340 | $78,740 | +6% | 2,260 |
| Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty)First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $112,480 | $71,750–$159,920 | $79,920 | +41% | 5,880 |
| Low-Voltage/Controls TechnicianElectrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment (49-2094) | $95,360 | $73,480–$123,300 | $74,090 | +29% | 540 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Portland 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 Portland's LED & solar market has changed since 2018.
The number of nonresidential electrical contractors in Portland rose from 244 in 2018 to 253 in 2023, up 4%, close to the 6% national change. Headcount and pay for those firms are withheld in Portland, so the occupation figures above are the better guide to what hiring costs.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: business locations | 244 | 253 | +4% |
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: employment | 7,555 | – | – |
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: average annual pay | $81,680 | – | – |
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
Portland runs 12% fewer LED and solar workers per job than the country as a whole — below the national concentration. Fewer per job means the people you want are already working, and usually for someone who would rather keep 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 Portland's LED and solar market compares
Among the 37 metros we cover with published BLS figures, Portland ranks 20th for headcount, 5th for median pay and 27th for concentration for solar photovoltaic installers. Pay here is among the highest we see, so offers need to start near the top of the range.
What this means for hiring:For LED and solar employers in Portland, the local pool is thinner than most, so plan on recruiting some roles in from outside the metro.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Portland metro. Employers are counted by business location.
LED & Solar licensing in Oregon.
Oregon has a Limited Renewable Energy Technician license that allows PV electrical work on systems up to 50 kW AC. Larger systems require a general journeyman or supervising electrician, and structural mounting and racking work needs no electrical license. The Portland metro crosses a state line, so check the rules in the neighboring state too for crews that work on both sides.
Licensing authority: Oregon Building Codes Division (Department of Consumer and Business Services). Confirm current rules with the agency.
We have not closed an LED & solar search in Portland 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 Portland than imply a record in this trade that we do not have yet.
- Site SuperintendentTwenty years of construction and six as a superintendent, placed onto Portland-Vancouver jobsites in two weeks.
- Lead Fire Alarm TechnicianSeven weeks for an NFPA-licensed lead fire alarm technician - the right length for a life-safety role.
Nearby markets competing for Portland talent.
The closest metro we cover is Seattle, about 145 miles away. Portland pays more than every metro we cover within reach ($66,320 median), which helps when recruiting people in from Seattle at $61,630. Portland is the largest market for this work in the region, so nearby metros tend to recruit from here rather than the other way round.
What else is competing for Portland crews.
Not LED & solar work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Portland in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- OHSU campus expansionPhased capital programVista Pavilion opening; further phases through 2029
Academic medical construction on a constrained hillside site. Med-gas plumbers, ICRA-trained mechanical crews, and superintendents who can run vertical work with near-zero laydown space.
- Interstate Bridge Replacement Program (I-5 Columbia River)$13.6B total program cost (as of Jan 2026 estimate; up from $5.5-7.5B in Dec 2022), including a $1.49B federal investmentDesign and early construction through the 2030s
Replaces the I-5 Columbia River crossing with a seismically resilient multimodal structure carrying light rail and bus rapid transit. The largest bi-state heavy civil program in the Northwest - marine, structural, and systems trades on a decade-long horizon.
- Semiconductor manufacturing, Washington CountyMulti-billion, CHIPS-supportedRolling through 2030
The Silicon Forest fab corridor in Hillsboro is the defining industrial employer in this metro. Cleanroom mechanical, process piping, high-purity welding, and controls work - the highest-paying trades work in Oregon and a skill set with very few qualified local candidates.
Showing 3 of 6 projects tracked in this metro. The Portland market page lists them all.
What credentials matter for LED & solar, and what kills offers in Portland.
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 Portland.
What do solar photovoltaic installers earn in Portland?
BLS puts the Portland median for solar photovoltaic installers at $66,320 a year, 25% above the $53,140 national median. That ranks 6th of 39 metros with published figures, in the top quarter. Pay is bunched together here, $56,470 to $87,370 across the 10th to 90th percentile and only a 1.5x gap, so small differences in an offer are noticed.
Is it hard to hire solar photovoltaic installers in Portland?
It is about average. Solar photovoltaic installers are as common in Portland as they are nationally (location quotient 0.88), with about 210 in the metro.
Which LED & solar roles pay the most in Portland?
Of the roles we recruit for, Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty) pays the most in Portland, a $112,480 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician at $105,090, 7% below it. Solar PV Installer is the lowest-paid field role at $66,320. Relative to national pay, Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician is the strongest-paying role here (66% above).
How many nonresidential electrical contractors operate in Portland?
BLS counted 253 nonresidential electrical contractors in Portland in 2023. Up from 244 in 2018, a 4% 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 Portland for solar photovoltaic installers?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Seattle (145 miles, $61,630 median). Portland out-pays Seattle, an advantage when recruiting from there.
The seat is open. The pipeline should not be.
253 nonresidential electrical contractors in Portland are drawing on the same 210 solar photovoltaic installers. Let's get your next hire lined up first.
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