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 | Massachusetts | 30.4¢ | 7.4 yrs | $76,878 |
| 2 | Hawaii | 42¢ | 7.4 yrs | $61,558 |
| 3 | Rhode Island | 29¢ | 7.7 yrs | $72,248 |
| 4 | Maine | 28.8¢ | 7.8 yrs | $71,505 |
| 5 | New York | 27.8¢ | 8.4 yrs | $67,028 |
| 6 | New Hampshire | 26.2¢ | 8.5 yrs | $62,706 |
| 7 | California | 33¢ | 9.3 yrs | $43,984 |
| 8 | District of Columbia | 22.8¢ | 9.3 yrs | $52,459 |
| 9 | New Jersey | 23.4¢ | 9.4 yrs | $53,438 |
| 10 | Vermont | 23.6¢ | 9.7 yrs | $53,123 |
| 11 | Maryland | 20.8¢ | 10.1 yrs | $45,612 |
| 12 | New Mexico | 15.2¢ | 10.5 yrs | $32,509 |
| 13 | Colorado | 16.4¢ | 10.7 yrs | $34,625 |
| 14 | Pennsylvania | 20.4¢ | 11.1 yrs | $42,368 |
| 15 | Wisconsin | 18.6¢ | 11.6 yrs | $37,313 |
| 16 | Illinois | 18.5¢ | 11.7 yrs | $36,948 |
| 17 | Delaware | 17.7¢ | 11.7 yrs | $35,231 |
| 18 | Ohio | 18¢ | 12.4 yrs | $34,299 |
| 19 | Florida | 15.4¢ | 12.4 yrs | $29,265 |
| 20 | South Carolina | 15.6¢ | 12.7 yrs | $29,155 |
| 21 | Minnesota | 16.2¢ | 12.7 yrs | $30,219 |
| 22 | Virginia | 16.2¢ | 12.7 yrs | $30,219 |
| 23 | Connecticut | 28.7¢ | 13.3 yrs | $29,629 |
| 24 | West Virginia | 15.7¢ | 14.0 yrs | $26,395 |
| 25 | Missouri | 13.8¢ | 14.1 yrs | $23,052 |
| 26 | Montana | 13.8¢ | 14.1 yrs | $23,052 |
| 27 | Iowa | 14¢ | 14.4 yrs | $22,872 |
| 28 | Arkansas | 13.3¢ | 14.6 yrs | $21,257 |
| 29 | Nebraska | 12.8¢ | 14.6 yrs | $20,480 |
| 30 | Oregon | 15.5¢ | 14.7 yrs | $24,723 |
| 31 | Washington | 13.9¢ | 16.7 yrs | $18,093 |
| 32 | Arizona | 15.5¢ | 17.2 yrs | $11,127 |
| 33 | Alaska | 26.8¢ | 17.2 yrs | $19,077 |
| 34 | Michigan | 20.6¢ | 17.7 yrs | $13,850 |
| 35 | Texas | 15.9¢ | 18.7 yrs | $9,233 |
| 36 | Nevada | 13.5¢ | 19.3 yrs | $7,193 |
| 37 | Kansas | 15¢ | 19.7 yrs | $7,475 |
| 38 | Wyoming | 14.1¢ | 20.1 yrs | $6,441 |
| 39 | Alabama | 16.4¢ | 20.9 yrs | $6,036 |
| 40 | Indiana | 16.9¢ | 21.0 yrs | $6,016 |
| 41 | Utah | 13.3¢ | 21.1 yrs | $4,886 |
| 42 | North Carolina | 14.6¢ | 21.3 yrs | $5,111 |
| 43 | Georgia | 15¢ | 21.8 yrs | $4,360 |
| 44 | South Dakota | 14.1¢ | 22.2 yrs | $3,529 |
| 45 | Oklahoma | 13.5¢ | 22.4 yrs | $3,204 |
| 46 | Mississippi | 14.8¢ | 22.7 yrs | $3,114 |
| 47 | Kentucky | 13.9¢ | 23.6 yrs | $1,876 |
| 48 | North Dakota | 12.5¢ | 24.2 yrs | $1,007 |
| 49 | Tennessee | 13.6¢ | 24.3 yrs | $886 |
| 50 | Idaho | 12.4¢ | 24.3 yrs | $820 |
| 51 | Louisiana | 13¢ | 25+ yrs | $-223 |
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 →