Colorado Nuclear jobs: 115 employed (2024)
As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Colorado employs 115 people in the nuclear sector — about 0.2% of the U.S. total. That makes Colorado the 35th-largest state for nuclear jobs nationwide.
Nuclear Jobs in Colorado (2024)
National share: 0.20% of all U.S. nuclear jobs.
Typical Median Wage
1. Employment Landscape
Colorado ranks 35th out of 51 U.S. states in nuclear employment. At 115 workers, the state sits below the 25th-ranked Arkansas’s tally by 863 jobs, and trails the national leader South Carolina by 4,190 nuclear workers.
1.1 Colorado’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; Colorado accounts for 115 of them.
1.3 Where Colorado sits in its own mix
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 40,318 | #23 |
| Solar | 9,312 | #9 |
| Wind | 7,753 | #4 |
| Storage & Grid | 2,166 | #14 |
| Electric Vehicles | 1,497 | #21 |
| Hydropower | 1,006 | #11 |
| Clean Fuels | 423 | #12 |
| Nuclear | 115 | #35 |
1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Colorado
Every nuclear-related sub-category reported for Colorado in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.
2. Pay & Career Roles in Colorado
Colorado contributes 0.20% of the nation’s nuclear workforce. Within Colorado’s own clean-energy economy, nuclear accounts for 0.2% of total clean-energy jobs (115 of 62,590 workers).
Cost-of-living in Colorado is roughly 5.4% higher the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for nuclear roles in Colorado is shown alongside the national BLS figure.
| Role | National median | Colorado-adjusted | Job Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuclear Engineer | $122,480 | $129,094 | 4 |
| Nuclear Power Reactor Operator | $120,350 | $126,849 | 3 |
See all 2 nuclear occupations with national wages and skills →
4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Colorado employers rate 19.1% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 32.1% as “somewhat difficult”) — on par with the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 51.2% of Colorado’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 | 57,079 |
| Construction | 29,797 |
| Other Services | 22,936 |
| Mining and Extraction | 18,621 |
| Utilities | 11,048 |
| Trade | 10,989 |
| Manufacturing | 5,942 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 4,141 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 486 |
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.