Climate projects—including energy efficiency, clean energy production, electricity transmission and distribution, energy storage, clean transportation, public transportation, and other areas—have been steadily increasing in the United States. The energy sector as a whole has experienced resistance to growth in recent years, but in 2024 saw a slower growth rate since 2020. With a 2.8% growth rate, clean energy job creation exceeded fossil fuel production in 2024, and more than the entire US job growth more than three times. In total, there were more than 4,085,300 climate jobs in 2024.*
Energy Efficiency Activities
The power supply supports approx 2.4 million jobs in 2024. This includes the work of designing, manufacturing, distributing, and installing products and services that use energy. Every job sector within this sector experienced growth from 2021. The states with the most energy-intensive jobs in 2024 were California (312,090 jobsTexas, Texas (182,506), New York (135,393), and Florida (132,060) While energy jobs rose in every state in 2024, the fastest growing states were New Mexico (+7.7%), Idaho (+7.3%), Nevada (+7.3%), and Oklahoma (+7.2%).
Renewable Energy Jobs
Renewable energy is supported 596,100 jobs in 2024. Solar (370,600 jobs) and wind (133,000) calculated more 84% of all renewable energy projects. Wind turbine service technicians and solar photovoltaic installers are the two fastest growing jobs in the United States for the third year running. California had the highest number of solar, wind, and traditional hydropower projects (135,397), followed by Texas (48,934) and New York (25,957)
Electricity Transmission, Distribution, and Storage Services
In 2024, work in clean energy storage and grid technology and innovation will be supported 160,300 jobs. Energy conservation cleanups and grid services have expanded 4.3% in 2024. Texas saw the highest employment (60,641 jobs), followed by California (53,520) and Illinois (19,411) The highest growth rate occurred in hydro storage pipes (+7.6%), while battery saving got new functions (+3,100) Transmission and distribution is essential to deliver reliable electrical service to consumers; however, data on work in the transport and distribution of clean energy cannot be separated from the work of fossil fuels, so the calculation is not included.
Clean Transportation Services
Clean cars are supported 398,100 jobs in 2024. This includes 161,200 jobs in hybrid electric vehicles, 148,300 in battery electric vehicles, 70,300 in a plug-in hybrid car, and 18,300 in the hydrogen / fuel cell car. While employment in the clean car sector increased from 2022, it decreased by 3% from 2023 to 2024. 6,000 jobs in 2024.
Renewable fuels are supported 111,800 jobs in 2024has remained stable since 2023. This includes about 36,100 activities in corn ethanol, 21,700 in other fuels ethanol, 33,800 in wood biomass, and 20,200 in other biofuels. Only biomass saw job losses in 2024, falling by more than 2%.
Public transport is supported 437,313 jobs in 2023, the last available reporting year. This number includes jobs in demand response, bus routes, freight and subway, and other public transportation options. Buses alone accounted for 50% of these services. Every $1 billion invested in public transportation can create 50,000 jobs.
Adaptation and Resilience Activities
As climate change gets worse frequent and difficultwork related to maintenance and durability is also expanding in many sectors, including resource management, transportation, infrastructure, public health, tourism, and disaster management. The climate change and sustainability industry will grow by 18% to $4.8 billion in 2024, compared to the climate industry’s growth of 9% to $532 billion. Growth comes especially from ongoing work in climate risk assessment, resilience planning, design engineering, and construction management. Alongside ongoing job creation, existing non-traditional jobs that were considered climate jobs are increasingly incorporating adaptations and resilience measures as climate change escalates.
As of 2025, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics does not have a category for flexible and dynamic jobs, in part because of their cut-throat nature. Similarly, although there is information on the growth of the industry from independent sources, individual flexibility and sustainability activities are not fully tracked. A revision to the Standard Occupational Classification system during its 2028 update would be the first step to strengthen the assessment of changes and work dynamics going forward.
The Future of Climate Services
Between 2021 and 2024, the passage and implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (PL 117-58), the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) (PL 117-169), and CHIPS and the Science Act (PL 117-167) promoted investment and job creation in the fields of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and climate resilience. Funding from the IRA alone was estimated to create more than 335,000 jobs each year of construction of a new energy project, and up to 100,000 jobs each year after construction. In 2025, Congress and the Trump Administration weakened or eliminated many of the IRA tax incentives and other funds that led to climate-related job creation and growth. However, with continued work at the federal level and potential federal demand in areas including geothermal energy, rehabilitating abandoned oil and gas wells, and decarbonizing heavy industry, climate-related jobs will continue to be an important part of the US economy.
* Employment data for 2025 is expected later in 2026
Author: Nicole Pouy
Editors: Daniel Bresette, Amaury Laporte
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