New Mexico Nuclear jobs: 98 employed (2024)
As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, New Mexico employs 98 people in the nuclear sector — about 0.2% of the U.S. total. That makes New Mexico the 36th-largest state for nuclear jobs nationwide.
Nuclear Jobs in New Mexico (2024)
National share: 0.17% of all U.S. nuclear jobs.
Typical Median Wage
1. Employment Landscape
New Mexico ranks 36th out of 51 U.S. states in nuclear employment. At 98 workers, the state sits below the 25th-ranked Arkansas’s tally by 880 jobs, and trails the national leader South Carolina by 4,208 nuclear workers.
1.1 New Mexico’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; New Mexico accounts for 98 of them.
1.3 Where New Mexico sits in its own mix
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 6,988 | #48 |
| Solar | 3,378 | #30 |
| Wind | 1,239 | #30 |
| Storage & Grid | 481 | #37 |
| Electric Vehicles | 312 | #41 |
| Clean Fuels | 133 | #37 |
| Hydropower | 110 | #46 |
| Nuclear | 98 | #36 |
1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in New Mexico
Every nuclear-related sub-category reported for New Mexico in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.
2. Pay & Career Roles in New Mexico
New Mexico contributes 0.17% of the nation’s nuclear workforce. Within New Mexico’s own clean-energy economy, nuclear accounts for 0.8% of total clean-energy jobs (98 of 12,740 workers).
Cost-of-living in New Mexico is roughly 7.8% lower the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for nuclear roles in New Mexico is shown alongside the national BLS figure.
| Role | National median | New Mexico-adjusted | Job Zone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nuclear Engineer | $122,480 | $112,927 | 4 |
| Nuclear Power Reactor Operator | $120,350 | $110,963 | 3 |
See all 2 nuclear occupations with national wages and skills →
4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
New Mexico employers rate 22.2% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 29.5% as “somewhat difficult”) — on par with the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 51.8% of New Mexico’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) |
|---|---|
| Mining and Extraction | 19,901 |
| Construction | 15,246 |
| Professional Services | 10,503 |
| Manufacturing | 8,343 |
| Other Services | 6,295 |
| Utilities | 4,538 |
| Trade | 2,949 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 2,005 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 83 |
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.