From USA Facts In 2022, more people worked in the U.S. energy sector than in all federal and state governments combined.
As of 2022, the energy sector had recovered 71% of the jobs lost in 2020’s pandemic-driven economic downturn.
Energy sector jobs grew 3.8% from 2021 to 2022, outpacing overall U.S. employment.
In 2022, the U.S. energy sector employed 8.12 million people, comprising approximately 5% of all U.S. jobs.
Oklahoma had 135,784 energy-related jobs that year.
• electric power generation: 7,597
• transmission, distribution, and storage: 33,705
• energy efficiency: 14,142
• fuels: 54,488
• motor vehicles: 21,85 The energy sector is a critical part of the U.S. economy, offering employment opportunities across industries and in a spectrum of roles.
Approximately 38% of these positions, or 3.1 million, are classified as clean energy jobs by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). These jobs focus on energy conservation, alternative energy development, pollution reduction, or recycling.
Energy jobs occupy an increasingly important role in the nation’s energy transition, as the U.S. works toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
States having the most energy jobs Texas leads the nation in energy jobs, employing more than 936,000 individuals in the energy sector, roughly five of every 100 working-age people.
Oil and natural gas production alone employed more than 280,000 people.
California comes next at more than 911,000 energy jobs; just shy of four of every 100 people works in the energy sector. Driven by its renewable energy commitment, California leads all states in energy efficiency jobs – which focus on reducing energy use and costs, and enhancing sustainability – with nearly 80% more of these jobs than any other state.
Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio have high job numbers in car manufacturing and maintenance, employing more than 600,000 people and accounting for almost a quarter of all car-related industries. They led the country in jobs per capita, with fewer energy jobs than other states but larger percentages of their workforces employed in the energy sector.
Employment sectors The energy sector workforce is distributed across technologies. From largest to smallest share of nationwide energy employment, they are:
• motor vehicles (32.2%)
• energy efficiency (27.3%)
• transmission, distribution, and storage (16.9%)
• fuels (12.7%)
• electric power generation (10.9%) Each of these sectors includes other industries defined by the DOE. For example, the electric power generation sector includes jobs in traditional fossil fuel and solar and wind energy production. Similarly, the motor vehicles sector has separate categories for gas and diesel vehicles instead of hybrid and electric cars.
The largest contributor to energy jobs is gasoline and diesel vehicle manufacturing and maintenance, which employ more than two million people – just under 25% of all energy jobs nationwide. This includes manufacturing (vehicles and parts), design, shipping, and repair. High growth in EVs, clean energy jobs Electric vehicle manufacturing has grown faster than any energy sector, increasing by 219% since 2016. In 2022 it employed more than 134,000 people, compared to just under 42,000 in 2016.
In the electric vehicle sector, the number of jobs focused on battery- powered electric vehicles increased by 28,366 (27%) from 2021 to 2022, the fastest growth of any energy technology, almost 17 times faster than gasoline and diesel vehicle employment. Clean vehicles accounted for 59% of all net new jobs in motor vehicles.
Clean energy technology jobs, including solar and wind power, accounted for nearly 87% of net new power-generation jobs in 2022.
Clean energy jobs include roles in renewable energy, grid technologies, energy storage, traditional electricity transmission and distribution, nuclear energy, energy efficiency, biofuels, and electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and their components. These jobs made up more than 40% of total energy jobs in 2022.
Data for this story came from the U.S. Energy and Employment Jobs Report. Launched in 2016, the USEER provides an annual snapshot of employment trends across the American energy sector.