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Solar permits in Worcester, MA

Data through September 2026 · updated 19 Oct 2026

1,755 solar permits were issued in Worcester, October 2024 through September 2026: about 878 a year and 8% of all permits. 767 solar permits in the last 12 months (Oct 2025–Sep 2026), 22% fewer than the 988 in the 12 months before. The busiest month is October. 01604 has the most, 417.

1,755permits issued
767last 12 months
Octbusiest month
100%finished
Sep 2026records through

Solar permits by month

Permits issued each month, October 2024 through September 2026.

Oct 2024: 97Oct2024Nov 2024: 72Dec 2024: 73Jan 2025: 58Jan2025Feb 2025: 60Mar 2025: 111Apr 2025: 93May 2025: 86Jun 2025: 104Jul 2025: 65JulAug 2025: 62Sep 2025: 107Oct 2025: 95Nov 2025: 71Dec 2025: 60Jan 2026: 65Jan2026Feb 2026: 53Mar 2026: 42Apr 2026: 47May 2026: 83Jun 2026: 67Jul 2026: 44JulAug 2026: 67Sep 2026: 73
The same numbers as a table
MonthPermits
Oct 202497
Nov 202472
Dec 202473
Jan 202558
Feb 202560
Mar 2025111
Apr 202593
May 202586
Jun 2025104
Jul 202565
Aug 202562
Sep 2025107
Oct 202595
Nov 202571
Dec 202560
Jan 202665
Feb 202653
Mar 202642
Apr 202647
May 202683
Jun 202667
Jul 202644
Aug 202667
Sep 202673

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When solar permits are filed

By calendar month, 100 = an average month (the thin line). October is the busiest (131), July the quietest (75). A busy month at the permit counter usually means a longer wait for a contractor.

January: 84 (100 = an average month)February: 77 (100 = an average month)March: 105 (100 = an average month)April: 96 (100 = an average month)May: 116 (100 = an average month)June: 117 (100 = an average month)July: 75 (100 = an average month)August: 88 (100 = an average month)September: 123 (100 = an average month)October: 131 (100 = an average month)131November: 98 (100 = an average month)December: 91 (100 = an average month)JFMAMJJASOND
The same numbers as a table
MonthIndex
January84
February77
March105
April96
May116
June117
July75
August88
September123
October131
November98
December91

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How many solar permits get finished

Permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025, at least 12 months before the file ends.

MeasureValue
Permits issued Oct 2024–Sep 2025988
Finished99.5%

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ZIP codes with the most solar permits

Counted at the property's ZIP code. Share is the part of the city's 1,755 solar permits.

ZIP codePermitsShare
0160441724%
0160327816%
0160626415%
0160224814%
0160521512%
016071167%
016101116%
01609925%
016083under 1%
016111under 1%

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The city's own permit types

How the city filed these permits. We group its types into kinds of work; this is the split.

Permit typePermitsShare
Electrical: Residential Solar Wiring1,754100%
Electrical: Commercial Solar Wiring/ Generator1under 1%

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How Worcester compares with other cities

From our cross-city data studies: the same measure, read the same way, for every city we cover.

Nearby permit data

Solar permits for other places in Boston. Each permit office keeps its own file, so the numbers are not added together.

How these numbers are made

Source: City of Worcester, Informing Worcester open data: Building, Electrical, Gas, Plumbing and Mechanical Permits (ArcGIS layers), read 19 Oct 2026. We count permits issued October 2024 through September 2026; denied and withdrawn permits are left out.

Residential permits the City of Worcester's Department of Inspectional Services issues inside the city: building, electrical, gas, plumbing and mechanical permits for houses, two-families and triple-deckers and other apartment buildings. Commercial, mixed-use, school and municipal permits in the same files are not counted. Shrewsbury, Auburn and the other towns around Worcester run their own permit offices and are not in these files.

  • We don't use the contractor names in the city's files. They are a mix of license holders' personal names and company names with no license number, so we can't match them to firms reliably. There are no contractor lists, rankings or firm pages for Worcester.
  • The files have no declared job value, so we show no costs.
  • The files have no final inspection date, so there is no time-to-final here. A permit counts as finished when the city marks it Complete; every other permit is open. The city has no separate expired status.
  • Permits on buildings with three or more units count in the totals but not as homes.
  • Insulation and siding permits count as remodels and repairs. Decks, and building permits the city files with no stated purpose, count under Other.
  • A new house gets separate building, electrical, gas and plumbing permits, so one project can count several times, once under each kind of work.

Counts are permits, not jobs: one job can need several permits. Nobody paid to be on this page and nobody can. Sources and definitions →

Cite this page

Free to reuse with attribution (CC BY 4.0). Please credit Contractor Records and link to this page. Suggested citation:

Contractor Records, "Solar permits in Worcester, MA", https://contractorrecords.com/worcester/solar-permits, data through September 2026, from the City of Worcester Department of Inspectional Services building-permit records.

Link to a table: By month · Season · How many get finished · By ZIP code · Permit types.

Download the tables (CSV): Solar permits by month · Solar permits by calendar month (index) · Solar permits: finished share · Solar permits by ZIP code · Solar permits by permit type.

Common questions

  • How many solar permits does Worcester issue a year?About 878 a year in Worcester: 1,755 permits issued October 2024 through September 2026, 767 of them in the last 12 months.
  • When do people in Worcester file the most solar permits?October (131 against an average month of 100); July is the quietest (75). If you can choose, a quiet month at the permit counter can mean contractors have more room in their schedules.
  • Which ZIP code has the most solar permits in Worcester?01604, with 417 of the 1,755 (24%); then 01603 (278).