Computed from 2,173 recent building-permit filings in Chicago, IL — what people actually declared, not survey guesses.
✓ Verified from 2,173 recent building-permit filings in Chicago, IL
Every filing behind this range declared a residential renovation cost between $1,000 and $2,000,000 — outliers and commercial-scale projects are excluded. We only publish a range once at least 30 qualifying filings exist for a city/project combination; this one has 2,173.
Data refreshed September 2026
The short answer: a typical solar installation in Chicago costs around $20,047, with half of all projects landing between $13,550 and $27,449. If a quote falls well outside that range, it isn't automatically wrong — but it deserves an explanation you can understand.
Chicago's housing stock is dominated by pre-1950 brick two-flats and bungalows, so remodels here run into knob-and-tube wiring, galvanized supply lines and balloon framing more often than in newer-built cities — all of which can add scope once walls are opened.
Winters cold enough to freeze exposed pipework make plumbing and HVAC timing a real factor: permit activity and contractor availability both dip in deep winter and spike in spring.
The middle half of the published sample spans $13,550 to $27,449. That is a 69% spread around the median, so the details of your scope matter more than the label on the project.
Solar installation usually covers panels, inverters, mounting, wiring, and grid connection work; battery storage is a separate major choice.
Roof replacement, structural reinforcement, service upgrades, batteries, and monitoring subscriptions may sit outside the basic panel scope.
This guide is based on 2,173 qualifying permit filings, not completed projects. Permit values reflect what applicants declared and can differ from the final paid cost.
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Every figure on this page is computed from declared valuations on building permits filed with the Chicago Department of Buildings, published via the Chicago Data Portal. We report the 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile of 2,173 recent residential filings — never a single-point "average". Declared values are what applicants file, not final invoices, so treat the range as planning guidance rather than a quote. Full methodology →
The source dataset is maintained by the Chicago Department of Buildings. The published sample is the subset classified as residential, matched to this project type, and carrying a declared valuation from $1,000 to $2,000,000. The count above is the number of qualifying filings used for this city and project, not the number of homes or completed invoices.
Open the Chicago Data Portal datasetBased on 2,173 recent building-permit filings with the Chicago Department of Buildings, the median declared cost is $20,047. Half of all projects fall between $13,550 and $27,449.
No. Permit valuations are what applicants declare to the Chicago Department of Buildings when filing, not final invoices — and the Chicago Department of Buildings doesn't independently verify the declared value. Treat the range as planning guidance and a sanity-check against the quotes you receive, not a price to hold a contractor to.
Chicago's housing stock is dominated by pre-1950 brick two-flats and bungalows, so remodels here run into knob-and-tube wiring, galvanized supply lines and balloon framing more often than in newer-built cities — all of which can add scope once walls are opened. That local variation is on top of the usual differences in size and specification, which is why we publish the 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile instead of a single misleading "average" — you can see where a quote sits in the real distribution.
Planning something else, or somewhere else? Request a city or project — requests decide what we ingest next.