LED & Solar recruiters serving Raleigh.
BLS counts 183 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 Raleigh.
BLS counts about 3,970 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Raleigh metro, the largest group being electricians (about 3,740). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the LED & Solar hub.
Solar PV Installer
Raleigh: BLS does not publish a local figure for this occupation.
NABCEP-Certified Solar Technician
Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician
Raleigh: 3,740 employed · $56,800 median, 98th-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
Raleigh: 1,420 employed · $79,230 median, 43rd-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)
Raleigh: 6,080 employed · $77,690 median, 64th-highest of 112 metros
Low-Voltage/Controls Technician
Raleigh: 230 employed · $71,880 median, 53rd-highest of 107 metros
What LED & Solar roles earn in Raleigh.
BLS publishes no Raleigh pay for solar photovoltaic installers; nationally the median is $53,140. Electricians in Raleigh earn a median $56,800, 10% under the $63,190 national figure, and 98th of 112 metros. Pay runs $45,700 at the tenth percentile to $73,760 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment, at $71,880 against $74,090 nationally. BLS withholds Raleigh pay for one occupation in the table.
| Role | Raleigh 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) | $56,800 | $45,700–$73,760 | $63,190 | −10% | 3,740 |
| 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) | $79,230 | $38,350–$131,400 | $78,740 | +1% | 1,420 |
| Electrical Foreman (LED/Solar specialty)First-Line Supervisors of Construction Trades and Extraction Workers (47-1011) | $77,690 | $55,570–$120,240 | $79,920 | −3% | 6,080 |
| Low-Voltage/Controls TechnicianElectrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment (49-2094) | $71,880 | $52,690–$103,930 | $74,090 | −3% | 230 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Raleigh 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 Raleigh's LED & solar market has changed since 2018.
The number of nonresidential electrical contractors in Raleigh rose from 155 in 2018 to 183 in 2023, up 18%, ahead of the 6% national rise. Headcount and pay for those firms are withheld in Raleigh, so the occupation figures above are the better guide to what hiring costs.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: business locations | 155 | 183 | +18% |
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: employment | 2,341 | – | – |
| Nonresidential electrical contractors: average annual pay | $61,161 | – | – |
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 Raleigh's LED and solar market compares
| Metro | Employed | Median pay | Concentration | Commercial employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | 150 | $45,970 | 0.56 | 345 |
| Raleigh | – | – | – | 183 |
| Greensboro | – | – | – | 75 |
| Winston-Salem | – | – | – | 57 |
| Durham-Chapel Hill | – | – | – | 62 |
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, Raleigh metro. Employers are counted by business location.
LED & Solar licensing in North Carolina.
A solar PV installation of any value requires an electrical contractor license. Limited, Intermediate and Unlimited classifications apply by project cost (up to $60,000, up to $150,000, and above $150,000). The same state rules apply in Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Durham-Chapel Hill, so candidates licensed there can work in Raleigh without re-qualifying.
Licensing authority: North Carolina State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors. Confirm current rules with the agency.
Nearby markets competing for Raleigh talent.
The closest metro we cover is Durham-Chapel Hill, about 20 miles away. BLS does not publish Raleigh figures for this occupation, so the nearby markets are the best guide: Charlotte has the largest pool within reach, about 150, at a $45,970 median.
| Metro | Distance | Employed | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raleigh | – | – | – |
| Durham-Chapel Hill | 21 mi | – | – |
| Greensboro | 68 mi | – | – |
| Winston-Salem | 93 mi | – | – |
| Charlotte | 130 mi | 150 | $45,970 |
| Richmond | 139 mi | – | – |
BLS OEWS, May 2025; straight-line miles.
What else is competing for Raleigh crews.
Not LED & solar work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Raleigh in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- Johnson & Johnson Wilson biologics campus$2BMulti-year
Biologics manufacturing campus adding to the region's life-sciences construction pipeline - cleanroom and process-utility work drawing on the same specialized labor pool as Novo Nordisk and Fujifilm.
- Novo Nordisk Clayton expansion$4.1BMulti-year buildout
Adds 1.4M sq ft of advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing and roughly 1,000 permanent jobs. One of the largest single pharma capital projects in the Southeast, requiring cleanroom-grade mechanical, electrical, and process piping at scale.
- Fujifilm Holly Springs biomanufacturing facility$3.2BMulti-year
A third concurrent mega-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing buildout in the Triangle, compounding demand for cleanroom electricians and process pipefitters across all three projects simultaneously.
Showing 3 of 5 projects tracked in this metro. The Raleigh market page lists them all.
What credentials matter for LED & solar, and what kills offers in Raleigh.
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 Raleigh.
Which LED & solar roles pay the most in Raleigh?
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 Raleigh, a $79,230 median (BLS measures that occupation across all industries in the metro). Among field roles the top earner is Low-Voltage/Controls Technician at $71,880, 9% below it. Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician is the lowest-paid field role at $56,800. Commercial LED Retrofit Electrician trails national pay the most (10% below).
How many nonresidential electrical contractors operate in Raleigh?
BLS counted 183 nonresidential electrical contractors in Raleigh in 2023. Up from 155 in 2018, an 18% 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 Raleigh for solar photovoltaic installers?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are Charlotte (130 miles, about 150, $45,970 median), Virginia Beach (166 miles, $47,930 median) and Baltimore (267 miles, about 490, $45,220 median).
Every hire from zero is a tax on your team.
183 nonresidential electrical contractors in Raleigh are hiring from the same local pool. Let's get your next hire lined up first.
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