Arkansas Nuclear jobs: 978 employed (2024)
As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Arkansas employs 978 people in the nuclear sector — about 1.7% of the U.S. total. That makes Arkansas the 21st-largest state for nuclear jobs nationwide.
Nuclear Jobs in Arkansas (2024)
National share: 1.69% of all U.S. nuclear jobs.
Typical Median Wage
1. Employment Landscape
Arkansas ranks 21st out of 51 U.S. states in nuclear employment. At 978 workers, the state sits above the 25th-ranked Arkansas’s tally by 0 jobs, and trails the national leader South Carolina by 3,328 nuclear workers.
1.1 Arkansas’s position vs. the top 10 and median states
1.2 Share of U.S. total
The nuclear sector nationwide employs roughly 57,942 workers; Arkansas accounts for 978 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 nuclear-related sub-category reported for Arkansas in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.
2. Pay & Career Roles in Arkansas
Arkansas contributes 1.69% of the nation’s nuclear workforce. Within Arkansas’s own clean-energy economy, nuclear accounts for 4.8% of total clean-energy jobs (978 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 nuclear roles in Arkansas is shown alongside the national BLS figure.
| Role | National median | Arkansas-adjusted | Job Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuclear Engineer | $122,480 | $107,905 | 4 |
| Nuclear Power Reactor Operator | $120,350 | $106,028 | 3 |
See all 2 nuclear 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.