Kentucky Nuclear jobs: 122 employed (2024)
As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Kentucky employs 122 people in the nuclear sector — about 0.2% of the U.S. total. That makes Kentucky the 33rd-largest state for nuclear jobs nationwide.
Nuclear Jobs in Kentucky (2024)
National share: 0.21% of all U.S. nuclear jobs.
Typical Median Wage
1. Employment Landscape
Kentucky ranks 33rd out of 51 U.S. states in nuclear employment. At 122 workers, the state sits below the 25th-ranked Arkansas’s tally by 856 jobs, and trails the national leader South Carolina by 4,184 nuclear workers.
1.1 Kentucky’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; Kentucky accounts for 122 of them.
1.3 Where Kentucky sits in its own mix
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 25,562 | #28 |
| Electric Vehicles | 2,954 | #11 |
| Solar | 2,268 | #31 |
| Storage & Grid | 822 | #31 |
| Wind | 298 | #47 |
| Hydropower | 154 | #37 |
| Clean Fuels | 142 | #34 |
| Nuclear | 122 | #33 |
1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Kentucky
Every nuclear-related sub-category reported for Kentucky in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.
2. Pay & Career Roles in Kentucky
Kentucky contributes 0.21% of the nation’s nuclear workforce. Within Kentucky’s own clean-energy economy, nuclear accounts for 0.4% of total clean-energy jobs (122 of 32,322 workers).
Cost-of-living in Kentucky is roughly 10.7% lower the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for nuclear roles in Kentucky is shown alongside the national BLS figure.
| Role | National median | Kentucky-adjusted | Job Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuclear Engineer | $122,480 | $109,375 | 4 |
| Nuclear Power Reactor Operator | $120,350 | $107,473 | 3 |
See all 2 nuclear occupations with national wages and skills →
4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Kentucky employers rate 20.9% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 26.6% as “somewhat difficult”) — on par with the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 47.5% of Kentucky’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 | 78,131 |
| Construction | 20,948 |
| Other Services | 13,174 |
| Trade | 11,333 |
| Professional Services | 9,708 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 8,485 |
| Utilities | 7,670 |
| Mining and Extraction | 6,045 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 558 |
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.