Storage & Grid · Illinois

Illinois Storage & Grid jobs: 2,789 employed (2024)

As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Illinois employs 2,789 people in the storage & grid sector — about 2.8% of the U.S. total. That makes Illinois the 8th-largest state for storage & grid jobs nationwide.

Storage & Grid Jobs in Illinois (2024)

2,789 Rank #8 of 51

National share: 2.83% of all U.S. storage & grid jobs.

Typical Median Wage

$90,047
Sector-wide BLS OES median across 3 tracked occupations.

1. Employment Landscape

Illinois ranks 8th out of 51 U.S. states in storage & grid employment. At 2,789 workers, the state sits above the 25th-ranked Alabama’s tally by 1,738 jobs, and trails the national leader California by 16,520 storage & grid workers.

1.1 Illinois’s position vs. the top 10 and median states

1st · California
19,309
8. Illinois
2,789
25th · Alabama
1,051
51st · Delaware
86

1.2 Share of U.S. total

The storage & grid sector nationwide employs roughly 98,434 workers; Illinois accounts for 2,789 of them.

1.3 Where Illinois sits in its own mix

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

1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Illinois

Every storage & grid-related sub-category reported for Illinois in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.

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

2. Pay & Career Roles in Illinois

Illinois contributes 2.83% of the nation’s storage & grid workforce. Within Illinois’s own clean-energy economy, storage & grid accounts for 2.3% of total clean-energy jobs (2,789 of 119,217 workers).

Cost-of-living in Illinois is roughly 0.9% higher the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for storage & grid roles in Illinois is shown alongside the national BLS figure.

RoleNational medianIllinois-adjustedJob Zone
Electrical Engineer $107,890 $108,861 4
Electrical & Electronics Repairer, Powerhouse $95,270 $96,127 3
Electrical & Electronics Repairer, Commercial $66,980 $67,583 3

See all 3 storage & grid occupations with national wages and skills →

4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix

Illinois employers rate 17.2% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 28.0% as “somewhat difficult”) — easier than the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 45.2% of Illinois’s clean-energy roles see some level of hiring friction.

4.1 Employer hiring difficulty

Did not hire
50.1%
Somewhat difficult hiring
28.0%
Very difficult hiring
17.2%
Not at all difficult hiring
4.7%

4.2 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

Frequently Asked Questions

How many storage & grid jobs are there in Illinois?
As of 2024, Illinois has approximately 2,789 storage & grid jobs — ranked 8th nationally.
What do these jobs pay?
Median wages across the tracked storage & grid occupations range from $66,980 to $107,890 according to BLS OES.
Is Illinois a good place to take one of these jobs?
Illinois is currently relatively loose. Cost-of-living runs 0.9% above the U.S. average, which raises or lowers real take-home on a BLS national median by a similar amount.

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.