Iowa Clean Energy Jobs: 29,462 Workers (2024)
Iowa supports 29,462 clean-energy workers across 8 sectors tracked by the USEER.
1. Employment Landscape — by sector
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 21,088 | #30 |
| Wind | 3,895 | #9 |
| Solar | 1,405 | #40 |
| Electric Vehicles | 1,190 | #25 |
| Storage & Grid | 901 | #30 |
| Nuclear | 626 | #27 |
| Clean Fuels | 231 | #25 |
| Hydropower | 125 | #40 |
3. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Employer-reported hiring difficulty and the NAICS industry split for clean-energy jobs in Iowa.
3.1 Hiring difficulty breakdown
Did not hire
48.2%
Somewhat difficult hiring
24.8%
Very difficult hiring
23.0%
Not at all difficult hiring
4.1%
3.2 Jobs by NAICS industry group
| Industry (NAICS group) | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Construction | 24,088 |
| Manufacturing | 18,675 |
| Trade | 14,334 |
| Other Services | 11,679 |
| Utilities | 6,403 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 4,558 |
| Professional Services | 4,427 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 2,487 |
| Mining and Extraction | 41 |
4. Full USEER Metrics for Iowa
Every line-item reported in the public 2025 USEER workbook for Iowa: fuels, electricity generation, transmission/distribution/storage, efficiency, vehicles, and NAICS industry groups.
Fuels
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Fuels total | 9,589 |
| Corn ethanol | 4,154 |
| Oil (petroleum and other fossil fuels) | 3,627 |
| Other ethanol and non-woody biomass | 627 |
| Other fuels | 435 |
| Natural gas fuels | 286 |
| Other biofuels | 231 |
| Woody biomass | 106 |
| Nuclear fuels | 103 |
| Coal fuels | 19 |
Electric Power Generation
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Electric power generation total | 11,001 |
| Wind | 3,895 |
| Other electricity | 2,213 |
| Solar | 1,405 |
| Coal electricity | 1,291 |
| Natural gas electricity | 675 |
| Nuclear electricity | 626 |
| Bioenergy/Combined heat and power | 545 |
| Traditional hydropower | 125 |
| Low impact hydropower, marine, and hydrokinetics | 92 |
| Oil and other fossil fuel electricity | 68 |
| Geothermal electricity | 65 |
Transmission, Distribution & Storage
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Transmission, distribution, and storage total | 13,157 |
| Traditional transmission and distribution | 9,120 |
| Other (including commodity flows) | 2,395 |
| Storage | 901 |
| Other grid modernization | 306 |
| Micro grid | 228 |
| Smart grid | 206 |
Energy Efficiency
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Energy efficiency total | 21,088 |
| High efficiency HVAC and renewable heating and cooling | 6,980 |
| Certified and efficient lighting | 6,797 |
| Traditional HVAC with an efficiency component | 2,701 |
| Other | 2,326 |
| Advanced materials | 2,283 |
Motor Vehicles
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Motor vehicle total | 31,858 |
| Gasoline and diesel vehicles | 23,796 |
| Motor vehicle commodity flows | 3,025 |
| Hybrid electric vehicles | 1,822 |
| Battery electric vehicles | 1,190 |
| Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles | 820 |
| Other vehicles | 818 |
| Hydrogen/fuel cell vehicles | 205 |
| Natural gas vehicles | 182 |
By NAICS Industry
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Construction | 24,088 |
| Manufacturing | 18,675 |
| Trade | 14,334 |
| Other Services | 11,679 |
| Utilities | 6,403 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 4,558 |
| Professional Services | 4,427 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 2,487 |
| Mining and Extraction | 41 |