Nuclear · Missouri

Missouri Nuclear jobs: 890 employed (2024)

As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Missouri employs 890 people in the nuclear sector — about 1.5% of the U.S. total. That makes Missouri the 24th-largest state for nuclear jobs nationwide.

Nuclear Jobs in Missouri (2024)

890 Rank #24 of 51

National share: 1.54% of all U.S. nuclear jobs.

Typical Median Wage

$121,415
Sector-wide BLS OES median across 2 tracked occupations.

1. Employment Landscape

Missouri ranks 24th out of 51 U.S. states in nuclear employment. At 890 workers, the state sits below the 25th-ranked Arkansas’s tally by 88 jobs, and trails the national leader South Carolina by 3,416 nuclear workers.

1.1 Missouri’s position vs. the top 10 and median states

1st · South Carolina
4,306
25th · Arkansas
978
24. Missouri
890
51st · Wyoming
5

1.2 Share of U.S. total

The nuclear sector nationwide employs roughly 57,942 workers; Missouri accounts for 890 of them.

1.3 Where Missouri sits in its own mix

Sector Jobs (2024) National rank
Energy Efficiency 42,296 #20
Solar 3,807 #28
Electric Vehicles 2,661 #15
Wind 1,597 #24
Storage & Grid 1,065 #25
Nuclear 890 #24
Hydropower 462 #19
Clean Fuels 238 #24

1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Missouri

Every nuclear-related sub-category reported for Missouri in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.

Nuclear electricity
890
Nuclear fuels
142

2. Pay & Career Roles in Missouri

Missouri contributes 1.54% of the nation’s nuclear workforce. Within Missouri’s own clean-energy economy, nuclear accounts for 1.7% of total clean-energy jobs (890 of 53,016 workers).

Cost-of-living in Missouri is roughly 8.2% lower the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for nuclear roles in Missouri is shown alongside the national BLS figure.

RoleNational medianMissouri-adjustedJob Zone
Nuclear Engineer $122,480 $112,437 4
Nuclear Power Reactor Operator $120,350 $110,481 3

See all 2 nuclear occupations with national wages and skills →

4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix

Missouri employers rate 15.3% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 28.4% as “somewhat difficult”) — easier than the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 43.6% of Missouri’s clean-energy roles see some level of hiring friction.

4.1 Employer hiring difficulty

Did not hire
51.8%
Somewhat difficult hiring
28.4%
Very difficult hiring
15.3%
Not at all difficult hiring
4.6%

4.2 Jobs by NAICS industry group

Industry (NAICS group)Jobs (2024)
Manufacturing 41,465
Construction 39,205
Other Services 22,641
Trade 19,813
Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows 15,761
Utilities 12,472
Professional Services 11,896
Agriculture and Forestry 586
Mining and Extraction 253

Frequently Asked Questions

How many nuclear jobs are there in Missouri?
As of 2024, Missouri has approximately 890 nuclear jobs — ranked 24th nationally.
What do these jobs pay?
Median wages across the tracked nuclear occupations range from $120,350 to $122,480 according to BLS OES.
Is Missouri a good place to take one of these jobs?
Missouri is currently relatively loose. Cost-of-living runs 8.2% below the U.S. average, which raises or lowers real take-home on a BLS national median by a similar amount.

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.