Wind · Iowa

Iowa Wind jobs: 3,895 employed (2024)

As of the 2025 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, Iowa employs 3,895 people in the wind sector — about 2.9% of the U.S. total. That makes Iowa the 9th-largest state for wind jobs nationwide.

Wind Jobs in Iowa (2024)

3,895 Rank #9 of 51

National share: 2.93% of all U.S. wind jobs.

Typical Median Wage

$81,355
Sector-wide BLS OES median across 2 tracked occupations.

1. Employment Landscape

Iowa ranks 9th out of 51 U.S. states in wind employment. At 3,895 workers, the state sits above the 25th-ranked Arizona’s tally by 2,406 jobs, and trails the national leader Texas by 24,229 wind workers.

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

1st · Texas
28,124
9. Iowa
3,895
25th · Arizona
1,489
51st · Delaware
98

1.2 Share of U.S. total

The wind sector nationwide employs roughly 132,984 workers; Iowa accounts for 3,895 of them.

1.3 Where Iowa sits in its own mix

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

1.4 Sub-sector breakdown in Iowa

Every wind-related sub-category reported for Iowa in the USEER workbook, ranked by employment.

Wind
3,895

2. Pay & Career Roles in Iowa

Iowa contributes 2.93% of the nation’s wind workforce. Within Iowa’s own clean-energy economy, wind accounts for 13.2% of total clean-energy jobs (3,895 of 29,462 workers).

Cost-of-living in Iowa is roughly 9.9% lower the U.S. average, so the state-adjusted median wage for wind roles in Iowa is shown alongside the national BLS figure.

RoleNational medianIowa-adjustedJob Zone
Wind Energy Engineer $100,940 $90,947 4
Wind Turbine Service Technician $61,770 $55,655 3

See all 2 wind occupations with national wages and skills →

4. Hiring Difficulty & Industry Mix

Iowa employers rate 23.0% of clean-energy hires as “very difficult” (plus 24.8% as “somewhat difficult”) — on par with the ~22% national baseline. Combined, 47.7% of Iowa’s clean-energy roles see some level of hiring friction.

4.1 Employer hiring difficulty

Did not hire
48.2%
Somewhat difficult hiring
24.8%
Very difficult hiring
23.0%
Not at all difficult hiring
4.1%

4.2 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

Frequently Asked Questions

How many wind jobs are there in Iowa?
As of 2024, Iowa has approximately 3,895 wind jobs — ranked 9th nationally.
What do these jobs pay?
Median wages across the tracked wind occupations range from $61,770 to $100,940 according to BLS OES.
Is Iowa a good place to take one of these jobs?
Iowa is currently in line with national norms. Cost-of-living runs 9.9% below 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.