Kansas Hydropower jobs: 201 employed (2024)
As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Kansas employs 201 people in the hydropower sector — about 0.3% of the U.S. total. That makes Kansas the 35th-largest state for hydropower jobs nationwide.
Hydropower Jobs in Kansas (2024)
National share: 0.35% of all U.S. hydropower jobs.
Typical Median Wage
1. Employment Landscape
Kansas ranks 35th out of 51 U.S. states in hydropower employment. At 201 workers, the state sits below the 25th-ranked New Jersey’s tally by 120 jobs, and trails the national leader California by 10,432 hydropower workers.
1.1 Kansas’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; Kansas accounts for 201 of them.
1.3 Where Kansas sits in its own mix
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 18,476 | #31 |
| Wind | 2,098 | #15 |
| Solar | 1,435 | #39 |
| Nuclear | 1,082 | #20 |
| Electric Vehicles | 824 | #31 |
| Storage & Grid | 706 | #33 |
| Hydropower | 201 | #35 |
| Clean Fuels | 160 | #31 |
1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Kansas
Every hydropower-related sub-category reported for Kansas in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.
2. Pay & Career Roles in Kansas
Kansas contributes 0.35% of the nation’s hydropower workforce. Within Kansas’s own clean-energy economy, hydropower accounts for 0.8% of total clean-energy jobs (201 of 24,982 workers).
Cost-of-living in Kansas is roughly 9.8% lower the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for hydropower roles in Kansas is shown alongside the national BLS figure.
| Role | National median | Kansas-adjusted | Job Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrologic / Civil Engineer | $95,890 | $86,493 | 4 |
| Water Treatment Plant Operator (Hydro) | $54,460 | $49,123 | 3 |
See all 2 hydropower occupations with national wages and skills →
4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Kansas employers rate 19.5% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 26.5% as “somewhat difficult”) — on par with the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 46.0% of Kansas’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) |
|---|---|
| Professional Services | 25,847 |
| Construction | 12,251 |
| Manufacturing | 11,416 |
| Other Services | 9,366 |
| Trade | 7,338 |
| Utilities | 6,522 |
| Mining and Extraction | 5,521 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 2,852 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 679 |
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.