South Carolina Clean Energy Jobs: 52,585 Workers (2024)
South Carolina supports 52,585 clean-energy workers across 8 sectors tracked by the USEER.
1. Employment Landscape — by sector
| Sector | Jobs (2024) | National rank |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Efficiency | 31,530 | #27 |
| Hydropower | 7,415 | #2 |
| Nuclear | 4,306 | #1 |
| Solar | 4,176 | #25 |
| Electric Vehicles | 1,994 | #18 |
| Wind | 1,818 | #19 |
| Storage & Grid | 1,097 | #22 |
| Clean Fuels | 249 | #23 |
3. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix
Employer-reported hiring difficulty and the NAICS industry split for clean-energy jobs in South Carolina.
3.1 Hiring difficulty breakdown
Did not hire
44.3%
Very difficult hiring
28.1%
Somewhat difficult hiring
21.9%
Not at all difficult hiring
5.7%
3.2 Jobs by NAICS industry group
| Industry (NAICS group) | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 50,545 |
| Construction | 28,144 |
| Trade | 25,163 |
| Other Services | 17,799 |
| Utilities | 12,125 |
| Professional Services | 7,687 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 4,875 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 815 |
| Mining and Extraction | 127 |
4. Full USEER Metrics for South Carolina
Every line-item reported in the public 2025 USEER workbook for South Carolina: fuels, electricity generation, transmission/distribution/storage, efficiency, vehicles, and NAICS industry groups.
Fuels
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Fuels total | 6,211 |
| Oil (petroleum and other fossil fuels) | 2,420 |
| Woody biomass | 1,175 |
| Natural gas fuels | 633 |
| Nuclear fuels | 586 |
| Corn ethanol | 442 |
| Other ethanol and non-woody biomass | 368 |
| Other fuels | 301 |
| Other biofuels | 249 |
| Coal fuels | 37 |
Electric Power Generation
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Electric power generation total | 25,951 |
| Traditional hydropower | 7,415 |
| Nuclear electricity | 4,306 |
| Solar | 4,176 |
| Natural gas electricity | 3,218 |
| Coal electricity | 2,252 |
| Wind | 1,818 |
| Other electricity | 1,555 |
| Bioenergy/Combined heat and power | 897 |
| Low impact hydropower, marine, and hydrokinetics | 153 |
| Geothermal electricity | 101 |
| Oil and other fossil fuel electricity | 60 |
Transmission, Distribution & Storage
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Transmission, distribution, and storage total | 16,806 |
| Traditional transmission and distribution | 12,970 |
| Other (including commodity flows) | 1,611 |
| Storage | 1,097 |
| Smart grid | 509 |
| Other grid modernization | 339 |
| Micro grid | 280 |
Energy Efficiency
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Energy efficiency total | 31,530 |
| Other | 10,259 |
| High efficiency HVAC and renewable heating and cooling | 8,377 |
| Advanced materials | 6,305 |
| Traditional HVAC with an efficiency component | 3,383 |
| Certified and efficient lighting | 3,206 |
Motor Vehicles
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Motor vehicle total | 66,783 |
| Gasoline and diesel vehicles | 51,748 |
| Motor vehicle commodity flows | 4,311 |
| Other vehicles | 3,663 |
| Hybrid electric vehicles | 3,056 |
| Battery electric vehicles | 1,994 |
| Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles | 1,366 |
| Hydrogen/fuel cell vehicles | 341 |
| Natural gas vehicles | 304 |
By NAICS Industry
| Sub-category | Jobs (2024) |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 50,545 |
| Construction | 28,144 |
| Trade | 25,163 |
| Other Services | 17,799 |
| Utilities | 12,125 |
| Professional Services | 7,687 |
| Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows | 4,875 |
| Agriculture and Forestry | 815 |
| Mining and Extraction | 127 |