Solar payback by state, ranked

Every US state + DC, ordered by how fast a typical home recovers its solar cost on electricity savings alone — the 30% federal credit ended for buyers in 2025. Pick yours for local numbers.

#	State	Rate	Payback	25-yr savings
1	Hawaii	44.4¢	7.1 yrs	$66,233
2	Massachusetts	30.4¢	7.4 yrs	$76,878
3	Maine	29.6¢	7.6 yrs	$74,191
4	Rhode Island	29.5¢	7.6 yrs	$73,820
5	New York	28.5¢	8.2 yrs	$69,343
6	New Hampshire	27¢	8.3 yrs	$65,392
7	District of Columbia	23¢	9.2 yrs	$52,933
8	New Jersey	23.5¢	9.4 yrs	$53,807
9	California	32.6¢	9.4 yrs	$43,129
10	Vermont	24¢	9.6 yrs	$54,338
11	Maryland	21.3¢	9.9 yrs	$47,196
12	New Mexico	15.2¢	10.5 yrs	$32,509
13	Colorado	16.6¢	10.6 yrs	$35,356
14	Pennsylvania	20.9¢	10.8 yrs	$43,958
15	Illinois	18.9¢	11.4 yrs	$38,176
16	Delaware	18.1¢	11.5 yrs	$36,459
17	Wisconsin	18.8¢	11.5 yrs	$38,042
18	Ohio	18.4¢	12.1 yrs	$35,534
19	Virginia	16.7¢	12.3 yrs	$31,818
20	Florida	15.4¢	12.4 yrs	$29,265
21	South Carolina	15.8¢	12.5 yrs	$29,666
22	Minnesota	16.3¢	12.6 yrs	$30,582
23	Connecticut	27.7¢	13.7 yrs	$27,654
24	Montana	14¢	13.9 yrs	$23,773
25	West Virginia	15.7¢	14.0 yrs	$26,395
26	Missouri	13.9¢	14.0 yrs	$23,412
27	Iowa	14.2¢	14.2 yrs	$23,403
28	Arkansas	13.6¢	14.3 yrs	$22,333
29	Oregon	15.6¢	14.6 yrs	$25,082
30	Nebraska	12.8¢	14.6 yrs	$20,480
31	Washington	14.2¢	16.4 yrs	$19,006
32	Alaska	27.1¢	17.1 yrs	$19,610
33	Arizona	15.5¢	17.2 yrs	$11,127
34	Michigan	21.2¢	17.2 yrs	$15,078
35	Texas	16¢	18.6 yrs	$9,436
36	Nevada	13.7¢	19.0 yrs	$7,598
37	Kansas	15.1¢	19.6 yrs	$7,676
38	Wyoming	14.1¢	20.1 yrs	$6,441
39	Alabama	16.5¢	20.8 yrs	$6,225
40	Indiana	17¢	20.9 yrs	$6,206
41	North Carolina	14.9¢	21.0 yrs	$5,669
42	Utah	13.3¢	21.1 yrs	$4,886
43	Georgia	15.1¢	21.7 yrs	$4,549
44	South Dakota	14.3¢	22.0 yrs	$3,905
45	Oklahoma	13.7¢	22.1 yrs	$3,581
46	Mississippi	15¢	22.5 yrs	$3,465
47	Kentucky	14¢	23.5 yrs	$2,074
48	Idaho	12.8¢	23.7 yrs	$1,595
49	North Dakota	12.6¢	24.0 yrs	$1,203
50	Tennessee	13.7¢	24.2 yrs	$1,072
51	Louisiana	13.1¢	25+ yrs	$-38

Ranked on typical household usage at each state’s own rate, at 3.00 $/W before incentives. Payback depends on your rate, roof and quotes, not the bill size. See methodology.

Why solar payback varies so much between states

The gap between the top and bottom of this table isn’t about the panels — the same hardware on the same roof can pay off in seven years in one state and over eighteen in another. Three things drive almost all of the spread:

Your electricity rate. Solar doesn’t earn money; it stops you spending it. So the more you pay per kilowatt-hour, the more every unit your panels produce is worth. This is why high-rate states like Hawaii, California and the Northeast dominate the top of the table, and cheap-power states in the Northwest and Mountain West sit at the bottom.
How much sun the state gets. A kilowatt of panels in Arizona makes roughly 50% more electricity a year than the same panels in Washington. Sunnier states get more value from an identical system, which is why some low-rate Sunbelt states still rank respectably.
What the utility pays for exports. Under full-retail net metering, power you send to the grid is worth as much as power you buy. Under newer export rates like California’s NEM 3.0, it’s credited at a fraction of retail — which lengthens payback even where power is expensive. Our ranking accounts for each state’s net-metering reality, not a rosy full-retail assumption.

How to read this table

Every row uses that state’s own EIA average residential rate, its NREL sunshine, and its current export rules — with no federal tax credit, because the 30% residential credit ended for purchased systems on 31 December 2025. The payback figure is the number of years of electricity-bill savings it takes to recover the system’s cost. It’s a like-for-like comparison across states, not a quote for your home: your real number depends on your actual rate, your roof and shading, and the price you’re quoted. Click any state for its local breakdown — major utilities, net-metering specifics, remaining incentives, and a typical installed cost.

These are independent estimates for guidance only — not quotes or financial advice. Always get itemised quotes before buying. Want your own figure? Open the solar payback calculator →