Massachusetts Hydropower jobs: 1,630 employed (2024)
As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Massachusetts employs 1,630 people in the hydropower sector — about 2.8% of the U.S. total. That makes Massachusetts the 9th-largest state for hydropower jobs nationwide.
Hydropower Jobs in Massachusetts (2024)
National share: 2.81% of all U.S. hydropower jobs.
Typical Median Wage
1. Employment Landscape
Massachusetts ranks 9th out of 51 U.S. states in hydropower employment. At 1,630 workers, the state sits above the 25th-ranked New Jersey’s tally by 1,308 jobs, and trails the national leader California by 9,003 hydropower workers.
1.1 Massachusetts’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; Massachusetts accounts for 1,630 of them.
1.3 Where Massachusetts sits in its own mix
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 86,920 | #6 |
| Solar | 16,827 | #4 |
| Electric Vehicles | 5,533 | #6 |
| Storage & Grid | 5,446 | #4 |
| Wind | 2,816 | #13 |
| Hydropower | 1,630 | #9 |
| Nuclear | 919 | #23 |
| Clean Fuels | 599 | #8 |
1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Massachusetts
Every hydropower-related sub-category reported for Massachusetts in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.
2. Pay & Career Roles in Massachusetts
Massachusetts contributes 2.81% of the nation’s hydropower workforce. Within Massachusetts’s own clean-energy economy, hydropower accounts for 1.4% of total clean-energy jobs (1,630 of 120,689 workers).
Cost-of-living in Massachusetts is roughly 10.4% higher the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for hydropower roles in Massachusetts is shown alongside the national BLS figure.
| Role | National median | Massachusetts-adjusted | Job Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrologic / Civil Engineer | $95,890 | $105,863 | 4 |
| Water Treatment Plant Operator (Hydro) | $54,460 | $60,124 | 3 |
See all 2 hydropower occupations with national wages and skills →
4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Massachusetts employers rate 20.4% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 27.6% as “somewhat difficult”) — on par with the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 47.9% of Massachusetts’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 | 48,798 |
| Professional Services | 47,573 |
| Trade | 30,832 |
| Other Services | 21,762 |
| Manufacturing | 15,295 |
| Utilities | 13,735 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 929 |
| Mining and Extraction | 51 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 32 |
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.