Arkansas Hydropower jobs: 114 employed (2024)
As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Arkansas employs 114 people in the hydropower sector — about 0.2% of the U.S. total. That makes Arkansas the 44th-largest state for hydropower jobs nationwide.
Hydropower Jobs in Arkansas (2024)
National share: 0.20% of all U.S. hydropower jobs.
Typical Median Wage
1. Employment Landscape
Arkansas ranks 44th out of 51 U.S. states in hydropower employment. At 114 workers, the state sits below the 25th-ranked New Jersey’s tally by 207 jobs, and trails the national leader California by 10,519 hydropower workers.
1.1 Arkansas’s position vs. the top 10 and median states
1.2 Share of U.S. total
The hydropower sector nationwide employs roughly 58,089 workers; Arkansas accounts for 114 of them.
1.3 Where Arkansas sits in its own mix
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 16,129 | #32 |
| Wind | 1,006 | #34 |
| Nuclear | 978 | #21 |
| Solar | 947 | #44 |
| Electric Vehicles | 688 | #34 |
| Storage & Grid | 483 | #36 |
| Clean Fuels | 148 | #33 |
| Hydropower | 114 | #44 |
1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Arkansas
Every hydropower-related sub-category reported for Arkansas in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.
2. Pay & Career Roles in Arkansas
Arkansas contributes 0.20% of the nation’s hydropower workforce. Within Arkansas’s own clean-energy economy, hydropower accounts for 0.6% of total clean-energy jobs (114 of 20,494 workers).
Cost-of-living in Arkansas is roughly 11.9% lower the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for hydropower roles in Arkansas is shown alongside the national BLS figure.
| Role | National median | Arkansas-adjusted | Job Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrologic / Civil Engineer | $95,890 | $84,479 | 4 |
| Water Treatment Plant Operator (Hydro) | $54,460 | $47,979 | 3 |
See all 2 hydropower occupations with national wages and skills →
4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Arkansas employers rate 22.9% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 20.1% as “somewhat difficult”) — on par with the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 43.0% of Arkansas’s clean-energy roles see some level of hiring friction.
4.1 Employer hiring difficulty
4.2 Jobs by NAICS industry group
| Industry (NAICS group) | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Construction | 16,812 |
| Manufacturing | 13,294 |
| Other Services | 9,332 |
| Utilities | 8,099 |
| Trade | 7,504 |
| Professional Services | 4,895 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 4,198 |
| Mining and Extraction | 1,897 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 1,005 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Data source: U.S. Department of Energy — 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report (reflecting 2024 employment); U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics; O*NET Occupation Database 29.1.
Last updated: April 2026.