How long a home solar system takes to pay for itself, by state
A 7 kW rooftop solar system modeled in all 51 states and DC — the same system everywhere, so the differences are sun and electricity price, not equipment.
Payback runs from 5.1 years in Hawaii to 22.5 years in Washington — a 4.4× spread driven almost entirely by what a kilowatt-hour costs locally. No federal tax credit is applied: the residential credit (§25D) expired on December 31, 2025.
What the data shows
Sunshine matters less than the price of electricity. Across the 51 states, payback tracks the local electricity rate about twice as closely as it tracks solar resource (correlation 0.74 vs 0.40). Panels save you money by replacing power you would otherwise buy, so what that power costs dominates.
Connecticut pays back faster than Nevada — 7.0 years against 10.3 — despite receiving 27% less sun per kilowatt installed, because power costs 33.1¢/kWh there versus 14.6¢.
| State | Modeled at | ¢/kWh | kWh per kW/yr | Annual kWh | Installed cost | Annual savings | Payback (yrs) | 25-yr net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | Honolulu | 42.3 | 1,617 | 11,319 | $24,570 | $4,788 | 5.1 | $95,128 |
| California | Los Angeles | 31.8 | 1,676 | 11,732 | $23,296 | $3,731 | 6.2 | $69,973 |
| Connecticut | Bridgeport | 33.1 | 1,285 | 8,995 | $20,748 | $2,977 | 7.0 | $53,686 |
| New Hampshire | Manchester | 29.4 | 1,256 | 8,792 | $18,928 | $2,585 | 7.3 | $45,693 |
| Rhode Island | Providence | 30.4 | 1,291 | 9,037 | $20,384 | $2,747 | 7.4 | $48,297 |
| Maine | Portland | 27.1 | 1,311 | 9,177 | $18,564 | $2,487 | 7.5 | $43,610 |
| Massachusetts | Boston | 30.9 | 1,299 | 9,093 | $21,840 | $2,810 | 7.8 | $48,403 |
| New Mexico | Albuquerque | 14.5 | 1,778 | 12,446 | $16,380 | $1,805 | 9.1 | $28,737 |
| Arizona | Phoenix | 14.9 | 1,757 | 12,299 | $17,290 | $1,833 | 9.4 | $28,524 |
| New York | New York | 24.6 | 1,285 | 8,995 | $22,204 | $2,213 | 10.0 | $33,115 |
| Vermont | Burlington | 21.4 | 1,217 | 8,519 | $18,564 | $1,823 | 10.2 | $27,013 |
| Michigan | Detroit | 19.2 | 1,284 | 8,988 | $17,836 | $1,726 | 10.3 | $25,306 |
| Nevada | Las Vegas | 14.6 | 1,752 | 12,264 | $18,382 | $1,791 | 10.3 | $26,382 |
| Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | 18.3 | 1,351 | 9,457 | $18,746 | $1,731 | 10.8 | $24,520 |
| Maryland | Baltimore | 18.2 | 1,386 | 9,702 | $19,292 | $1,766 | 10.9 | $24,852 |
| Colorado | Denver | 15.1 | 1,590 | 11,130 | $18,564 | $1,681 | 11.0 | $23,452 |
| Alabama | Birmingham | 15.1 | 1,369 | 9,583 | $16,016 | $1,447 | 11.1 | $20,160 |
| Kansas | Wichita | 13.9 | 1,521 | 10,647 | $16,380 | $1,480 | 11.1 | $20,618 |
| Texas | Houston | 15.2 | 1,420 | 9,940 | $16,744 | $1,511 | 11.1 | $21,028 |
| South Carolina | Charleston | 14.3 | 1,453 | 10,171 | $16,380 | $1,454 | 11.3 | $19,981 |
| Wisconsin | Milwaukee | 17.3 | 1,327 | 9,289 | $18,200 | $1,607 | 11.3 | $21,975 |
| Mississippi | Jackson | 13.6 | 1,413 | 9,891 | $15,470 | $1,345 | 11.5 | $18,159 |
| Florida | Jacksonville | 14.5 | 1,456 | 10,192 | $17,108 | $1,478 | 11.6 | $19,838 |
| Georgia | Atlanta | 14.1 | 1,418 | 9,926 | $16,380 | $1,400 | 11.7 | $18,609 |
| New Jersey | Newark | 19.5 | 1,301 | 9,107 | $20,930 | $1,776 | 11.8 | $23,467 |
| Indiana | Indianapolis | 15.4 | 1,325 | 9,275 | $16,926 | $1,428 | 11.9 | $18,783 |
| Ohio | Columbus | 16.1 | 1,290 | 9,030 | $17,290 | $1,454 | 11.9 | $19,056 |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma City | 12.2 | 1,538 | 10,766 | $15,652 | $1,313 | 11.9 | $17,184 |
| Delaware | Wilmington | 16.4 | 1,358 | 9,506 | $18,746 | $1,559 | 12.0 | $20,229 |
| Virginia | Virginia Beach | 14.6 | 1,422 | 9,954 | $17,654 | $1,453 | 12.1 | $18,678 |
| District of Columbia | Washington | 17.4 | 1,386 | 9,702 | $21,476 | $1,688 | 12.7 | $20,728 |
| Louisiana | New Orleans | 11.9 | 1,475 | 10,325 | $16,016 | $1,229 | 13.0 | $14,701 |
| North Carolina | Charlotte | 12.9 | 1,415 | 9,905 | $16,562 | $1,278 | 13.0 | $15,382 |
| Arkansas | Little Rock | 12.4 | 1,374 | 9,618 | $15,652 | $1,193 | 13.1 | $14,164 |
| Iowa | Des Moines | 13.4 | 1,360 | 9,520 | $16,744 | $1,276 | 13.1 | $15,148 |
| Illinois | Chicago | 16.0 | 1,301 | 9,107 | $19,292 | $1,457 | 13.2 | $17,136 |
| South Dakota | Sioux Falls | 12.5 | 1,401 | 9,807 | $16,562 | $1,226 | 13.5 | $14,085 |
| West Virginia | Charleston | 14.2 | 1,219 | 8,533 | $16,380 | $1,212 | 13.5 | $13,912 |
| Kentucky | Louisville | 12.8 | 1,339 | 9,373 | $16,562 | $1,200 | 13.8 | $13,432 |
| Minnesota | Minneapolis | 14.8 | 1,326 | 9,282 | $18,928 | $1,374 | 13.8 | $15,415 |
| Wyoming | Cheyenne | 11.4 | 1,527 | 10,689 | $16,926 | $1,219 | 13.9 | $13,538 |
| Tennessee | Nashville | 12.5 | 1,335 | 9,345 | $16,380 | $1,168 | 14.0 | $12,823 |
| Idaho | Boise | 11.6 | 1,464 | 10,248 | $16,926 | $1,189 | 14.2 | $12,793 |
| Missouri | Kansas City | 12.1 | 1,427 | 9,989 | $17,108 | $1,209 | 14.2 | $13,109 |
| Nebraska | Omaha | 11.4 | 1,417 | 9,919 | $16,380 | $1,131 | 14.5 | $11,889 |
| Alaska | Anchorage | 24.9 | 915 | 6,405 | $23,296 | $1,595 | 14.6 | $16,575 |
| Utah | Salt Lake City | 11.5 | 1,481 | 10,367 | $17,654 | $1,192 | 14.8 | $12,151 |
| Montana | Billings | 12.4 | 1,339 | 9,373 | $17,290 | $1,162 | 14.9 | $11,766 |
| Oregon | Portland | 14.6 | 1,117 | 7,819 | $19,474 | $1,142 | 17.1 | $9,065 |
| North Dakota | Fargo | 10.9 | 1,287 | 9,009 | $17,108 | $982 | 17.4 | $7,442 |
| Washington | Seattle | 11.7 | 1,085 | 7,595 | $20,020 | $889 | 22.5 | $2,195 |
Method & sources
- Production — NREL PVWatts® v8, run at each state's largest population center (named in the table): 1 kW DC, fixed roof mount, 20° tilt, 180° azimuth, standard modules, 14% system losses. Scaled to 7 kW.
- Electricity price — EIA average residential rate for the state.
- Installed cost — $2.60/W DC national baseline × a per-state cost factor derived from regional construction-cost indices.
- Payback — installed cost ÷ first-year bill savings. It does not model rate escalation, degradation, financing, net-metering rules or state incentives, all of which vary by utility. Treat it as a like-for-like comparison between states, not a forecast for one house.
- No federal tax credit is applied. The residential clean-energy credit (§25D) expired December 31, 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Figures published before 2026 that show a 30% credit are not comparable to these.
The same model produces the estimate a homeowner sees for their own address, so a figure cited here matches what the site shows them.
See it on your own roof
These are state averages. Type your address and get the numbers for your actual home — measured roof area, your utility's rate, and a photorealistic render on your own satellite image.
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