Rhode Island Nuclear jobs: 67 employed (2024)
As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Rhode Island employs 67 people in the nuclear sector — about 0.1% of the U.S. total. That makes Rhode Island the 39th-largest state for nuclear jobs nationwide.
Nuclear Jobs in Rhode Island (2024)
National share: 0.12% of all U.S. nuclear jobs.
Typical Median Wage
1. Employment Landscape
Rhode Island ranks 39th out of 51 U.S. states in nuclear employment. At 67 workers, the state sits below the 25th-ranked Arkansas’s tally by 911 jobs, and trails the national leader South Carolina by 4,239 nuclear workers.
1.1 Rhode Island’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; Rhode Island accounts for 67 of them.
1.3 Where Rhode Island sits in its own mix
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 11,582 | #39 |
| Solar | 1,566 | #37 |
| Wind | 614 | #38 |
| Storage & Grid | 169 | #49 |
| Electric Vehicles | 128 | #49 |
| Hydropower | 93 | #47 |
| Nuclear | 67 | #39 |
| Clean Fuels | 48 | #47 |
1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Rhode Island
Every nuclear-related sub-category reported for Rhode Island in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.
2. Pay & Career Roles in Rhode Island
Rhode Island contributes 0.12% of the nation’s nuclear workforce. Within Rhode Island’s own clean-energy economy, nuclear accounts for 0.5% of total clean-energy jobs (67 of 14,267 workers).
Cost-of-living in Rhode Island is roughly 0.9% higher the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for nuclear roles in Rhode Island is shown alongside the national BLS figure.
| Role | National median | Rhode Island-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
Rhode Island employers rate 19.1% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 33.4% as “somewhat difficult”) — on par with the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 52.5% of Rhode Island’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) |
|---|---|
| Construction | 8,269 |
| Trade | 4,123 |
| Professional Services | 4,069 |
| Other Services | 3,682 |
| Manufacturing | 1,591 |
| Utilities | 1,502 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 193 |
| Mining and Extraction | 1 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 0 |
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.