Wind · California

California Wind jobs: 8,384 employed (2024)

Wind Jobs in California (2024)

8,384 Rank #3 of 51 6.30% of U.S.

California-adjusted median

$92,745
Across 2 tracked wind roles, BEA RPP × 1.14.

Where California’s clean-energy jobs sit across 8 sectors

SectorJobs (2024)National rank
Energy Efficiency 312,090 #1
Solar 116,380 #1
Electric Vehicles 48,965 #1
Storage & Grid 19,309 #1
Hydropower 10,633 #1
Wind 8,384 #3
Clean Fuels 4,373 #1
Nuclear 4,106 #4

California vs. the wind leader, median, and bottom

1st · Texas
28,124
3. California
8,384
25th · Arizona
1,489
51st · Delaware
98

Wind roles and pay in California

Role SOC National median California-adjusted Job Zone
Wind Energy Engineer 17-2199.10 $100,940 $115,072 4
Wind Turbine Service Technician 49-9081.00 $61,770 $70,418 3

Employer-reported hiring difficulty in California

Did not hire
44.0%
Somewhat difficult hiring
31.7%
Very difficult hiring
19.0%
Not at all difficult hiring
5.3%

NAICS industry mix for California clean-energy jobs

Construction
261,790
Professional Services
179,480
Other Services
140,473
Manufacturing
135,925
Trade
114,418
Utilities
78,614
Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows
18,372
Mining and Extraction
11,089
Agriculture and Forestry
1,334

California’s electric-power generation workforce by fuel type

Solar
116,380
Natural gas electricity
20,091
Traditional hydropower
10,633
Wind
8,384
Bioenergy/Combined heat and power
7,465
Other electricity
4,482
Nuclear electricity
4,106
Coal electricity
1,831
Geothermal electricity
1,737
Low impact hydropower, marine, and hydrokinetics
1,427
Oil and other fossil fuel electricity
980

Full USEER workbook line items for California

Fuels

Fuels total 71,284
Oil (petroleum and other fossil fuels) 49,062
Natural gas fuels 8,437
Other biofuels 4,373
Other fuels 3,556
Woody biomass 2,390
Other ethanol and non-woody biomass 1,600
Corn ethanol 844
Nuclear fuels 806
Coal fuels 217

Electric Power Generation

Electric power generation total 177,515
Solar 116,380
Natural gas electricity 20,091
Traditional hydropower 10,633
Wind 8,384
Bioenergy/Combined heat and power 7,465
Other electricity 4,482
Nuclear electricity 4,106
Coal electricity 1,831
Geothermal electricity 1,737
Low impact hydropower, marine, and hydrokinetics 1,427
Oil and other fossil fuel electricity 980

Transmission, Distribution & Storage

Transmission, distribution, and storage total 151,704
Traditional transmission and distribution 98,184
Other (including commodity flows) 26,628
Storage 19,309
Smart grid 2,912
Other grid modernization 2,450
Micro grid 2,221

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency total 312,090
Traditional HVAC with an efficiency component 114,555
Certified and efficient lighting 69,722
High efficiency HVAC and renewable heating and cooling 63,811
Other 38,952
Advanced materials 25,050

Motor Vehicles

Motor vehicle total 228,902
Gasoline and diesel vehicles 151,355
Battery electric vehicles 48,965
Hybrid electric vehicles 15,344
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles 6,397
Motor vehicle commodity flows 3,130
Hydrogen/fuel cell vehicles 1,935
Natural gas vehicles 1,543
Other vehicles 234

By NAICS Industry

Construction 261,790
Professional Services 179,480
Other Services 140,473
Manufacturing 135,925
Trade 114,418
Utilities 78,614
Pipeline Transport & Commodity Flows 18,372
Mining and Extraction 11,089
Agriculture and Forestry 1,334

Skill profile for wind roles

Top skills

Critical Thinking3.75
Reading Comprehension3.50
Complex Problem Solving3.32
Judgment and Decision Making3.31
Operations Monitoring3.31
Active Listening3.25
Speaking3.25
Systems Analysis3.25

Knowledge

Engineering and Technology4.25
Computers and Electronics4.08
English Language4.06
Mechanical3.92
Mathematics3.83
Physics3.65
Design3.48
Administration and Management3.44

Core abilities

Deductive Reasoning3.75
Problem Sensitivity3.69
Oral Comprehension3.57
Inductive Reasoning3.50
Near Vision3.50
Written Comprehension3.50
Oral Expression3.32
Written Expression3.19

Representative tasks for wind workers

  • Inspect or repair fiberglass turbine blades. (Supplemental)
  • Collect turbine data for testing or research and analysis. (Core)
  • Design underground or overhead wind farm collector systems. (Supplemental)
  • Write reports to document wind farm collector system test results. (Supplemental)
  • Climb wind turbine towers to inspect, maintain, or repair equipment. (Core)
  • Perform root cause analysis on wind turbine tower component failures. (Supplemental)
  • Test wind turbine equipment to determine effects of stress or fatigue. (Supplemental)
  • Diagnose problems involving wind turbine generators or control systems. (Core)
  • Oversee the work activities of wind farm consultants or subcontractors. (Supplemental)
  • Start or restart wind turbine generator systems to ensure proper operations. (Core)
  • Provide engineering technical support to designers of prototype wind turbines. (Supplemental)
  • Assist in assembly of individual wind generators or construction of wind farms. (Supplemental)

Software and tools used in wind roles

Microsoft Project 🔥 Structured query language SQL 🔥 Microsoft Word 🔥 Microsoft Excel 🔥 Microsoft Office software 🔥 Microsoft Outlook 🔥 Microsoft PowerPoint 🔥 Bentley MicroStation 🔥 Python 🔥 Microsoft SQL Server 🔥 C# 🔥 Git 🔥 Microsoft Visio 🔥 C++ 🔥 Microsoft Visual Basic 🔥 SAP software 🔥 JUnit 🔥 Dassault Systemes SolidWorks 🔥 Linux 🔥 Microsoft Visual Studio 🔥 Tableau 🔥 Microsoft .NET Framework 🔥 Oracle Java 🔥 ESRI ArcGIS software 🔥

Education & training paths into wind

IM

Job-Related Professional Certification2.8%
Apprenticeship2.4%

OJ

On-the-Job Training12.5%

PT

On-Site or In-Plant Training11.8%

Required Level of Education

Required Level of Education18.2%

Related Work Experience (Years)

Related Work Experience12.5%