The U.S. energy workforce is cleaning up in the renewable energy sector, which expanded by almost 114,000 jobs from 2021 to 2022. This growth of 3.9% outpaced the 3.1% growth rate posted for the overall U.S. workforce.

The energy sector as a whole, including power generation, transmission and distribution, and energy efficiency added nearly 300,000 jobs, increasing from 7.8 million total energy jobs in 2021 to over 8.1 million in 2022.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2023 U.S. Energy and Employment Report, clean energy jobs increased in every state, with the greatest gains reported for California, which added 13,000 jobs for a 3.2% growth rate, and in West Virginia, where 7,000 clean energy jobs were added to achieve a 19% employment bump.

Employment opportunities in the solar, wind and other clean energy fields accounted for over 40% of total energy sector jobs in 2022. Solar is the electric power generation technology that employs the most workers; data indicate 3.7% growth associated with 12,000 new jobs in solar in 2022. The wind energy industry added 5,000 new jobs and achieved 4.5% growth during the year, while the geothermal workforce added 1,000 jobs and grew by 5.0%.

The most rapid growth in the clean vehicle sphere was in battery electric vehicle jobs, which added more than 28,000 jobs for a 27% increase. This is almost as many added jobs as in the gasoline and diesel vehicle sector, but at a growth rate that was 17 times faster.

The number of women working in energy increased by 150,000, meaning that over half of the net jobs added in 2022 were held by women.