Illinois Nuclear jobs: 4,209 employed (2024)
As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Illinois employs 4,209 people in the nuclear sector — about 7.3% of the U.S. total. That makes Illinois the 2nd-largest state for nuclear jobs nationwide.
Nuclear Jobs in Illinois (2024)
National share: 7.26% of all U.S. nuclear jobs.
Typical Median Wage
1. Employment Landscape
Illinois ranks 2nd out of 51 U.S. states in nuclear employment. At 4,209 workers, the state sits above the 25th-ranked Arkansas’s tally by 3,230 jobs, and trails the national leader South Carolina by 97 nuclear workers.
1.1 Illinois’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; Illinois accounts for 4,209 of them.
1.3 Where Illinois sits in its own mix
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 89,878 | #5 |
| Wind | 9,216 | #2 |
| Solar | 7,158 | #15 |
| Electric Vehicles | 4,525 | #8 |
| Nuclear | 4,209 | #2 |
| Storage & Grid | 2,789 | #8 |
| Hydropower | 979 | #12 |
| Clean Fuels | 464 | #11 |
1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Illinois
Every nuclear-related sub-category reported for Illinois in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.
2. Pay & Career Roles in Illinois
Illinois contributes 7.26% of the nation’s nuclear workforce. Within Illinois’s own clean-energy economy, nuclear accounts for 3.5% of total clean-energy jobs (4,209 of 119,217 workers).
Cost-of-living in Illinois is roughly 0.9% higher the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for nuclear roles in Illinois is shown alongside the national BLS figure.
| Role | National median | Illinois-adjusted | Job Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuclear Engineer | $122,480 | $123,582 | 4 |
| Nuclear Power Reactor Operator | $120,350 | $121,433 | 3 |
See all 2 nuclear occupations with national wages and skills →
4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Illinois employers rate 17.2% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 28.0% as “somewhat difficult”) — easier than the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 45.2% of Illinois’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) |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 79,577 |
| Construction | 64,186 |
| Professional Services | 47,035 |
| Other Services | 45,006 |
| Trade | 32,565 |
| Utilities | 22,832 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 12,286 |
| Mining and Extraction | 3,986 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 2,939 |
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.