Illinois Clean Energy Jobs: 119,217 Workers (2024)
Illinois supports 119,217 clean-energy workers across 8 sectors tracked by the USEER.
1. Employment Landscape — by sector
| 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 |
3. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Employer-reported hiring difficulty and the NAICS industry split for clean-energy jobs in Illinois.
3.1 Hiring difficulty breakdown
Did not hire
50.1%
Somewhat difficult hiring
28.0%
Very difficult hiring
17.2%
Not at all difficult hiring
4.7%
3.2 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 |
4. Full USEER Metrics for Illinois
Every line-item reported in the public 2025 USEER workbook for Illinois: fuels, electricity generation, transmission/distribution/storage, efficiency, vehicles, and NAICS industry groups.
Fuels
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Fuels total | 29,608 |
| Oil (petroleum and other fossil fuels) | 17,507 |
| Corn ethanol | 3,471 |
| Coal fuels | 2,813 |
| Natural gas fuels | 1,828 |
| Other fuels | 1,385 |
| Other ethanol and non-woody biomass | 1,200 |
| Nuclear fuels | 615 |
| Other biofuels | 464 |
| Woody biomass | 325 |
Electric Power Generation
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Electric power generation total | 33,065 |
| Wind | 9,216 |
| Solar | 7,158 |
| Natural gas electricity | 4,433 |
| Nuclear electricity | 4,209 |
| Bioenergy/Combined heat and power | 2,212 |
| Other electricity | 1,890 |
| Coal electricity | 1,846 |
| Traditional hydropower | 979 |
| Oil and other fossil fuel electricity | 426 |
| Low impact hydropower, marine, and hydrokinetics | 415 |
| Geothermal electricity | 282 |
Transmission, Distribution & Storage
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Transmission, distribution, and storage total | 50,010 |
| Traditional transmission and distribution | 30,599 |
| Other (including commodity flows) | 13,751 |
| Storage | 2,789 |
| Smart grid | 1,430 |
| Other grid modernization | 728 |
| Micro grid | 713 |
Energy Efficiency
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Energy efficiency total | 89,878 |
| Traditional HVAC with an efficiency component | 29,902 |
| High efficiency HVAC and renewable heating and cooling | 26,833 |
| Certified and efficient lighting | 14,895 |
| Advanced materials | 9,158 |
| Other | 9,089 |
Motor Vehicles
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Motor vehicle total | 107,851 |
| Gasoline and diesel vehicles | 81,513 |
| Hybrid electric vehicles | 7,147 |
| Other vehicles | 5,575 |
| Battery electric vehicles | 4,525 |
| Motor vehicle commodity flows | 4,308 |
| Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles | 3,250 |
| Hydrogen/fuel cell vehicles | 813 |
| Natural gas vehicles | 720 |
By NAICS Industry
| Sub-category | 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 |