Texas Hydropower jobs: 2,788 employed (2024)
As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Texas employs 2,788 people in the hydropower sector — about 4.8% of the U.S. total. That makes Texas the 6th-largest state for hydropower jobs nationwide.
Hydropower Jobs in Texas (2024)
National share: 4.80% of all U.S. hydropower jobs.
Typical Median Wage
1. Employment Landscape
Texas ranks 6th out of 51 U.S. states in hydropower employment. At 2,788 workers, the state sits above the 25th-ranked New Jersey’s tally by 2,466 jobs, and trails the national leader California by 7,845 hydropower workers.
1.1 Texas’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; Texas accounts for 2,788 of them.
1.3 Where Texas sits in its own mix
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 182,506 | #2 |
| Wind | 28,124 | #1 |
| Solar | 18,022 | #2 |
| Electric Vehicles | 9,490 | #2 |
| Storage & Grid | 9,455 | #3 |
| Nuclear | 3,159 | #6 |
| Hydropower | 2,788 | #6 |
| Clean Fuels | 1,188 | #4 |
1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Texas
Every hydropower-related sub-category reported for Texas in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.
2. Pay & Career Roles in Texas
Texas contributes 4.80% of the nation’s hydropower workforce. Within Texas’s own clean-energy economy, hydropower accounts for 1.1% of total clean-energy jobs (2,788 of 254,732 workers).
Cost-of-living in Texas is roughly 2.8% lower the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for hydropower roles in Texas is shown alongside the national BLS figure.
| Role | National median | Texas-adjusted | Job Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrologic / Civil Engineer | $95,890 | $93,205 | 4 |
| Water Treatment Plant Operator (Hydro) | $54,460 | $52,935 | 3 |
See all 2 hydropower occupations with national wages and skills →
4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Texas employers rate 19.6% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 29.9% as “somewhat difficult”) — on par with the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 49.5% of Texas’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 | 221,096 |
| Mining and Extraction | 198,839 |
| Manufacturing | 147,678 |
| Other Services | 117,127 |
| Professional Services | 93,706 |
| Trade | 85,200 |
| Utilities | 64,495 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 59,331 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 2,580 |
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.