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Green growth: Employment projections in environmentally focused occupations

April 2022

Note: This is an update of previously published data. The original post is here.

If your career plan involves caring for the planet, there’s good news. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects job growth in occupations related to helping the environment or conserving natural resources.

In fact, two of the occupations that BLS projects to have the fastest employment growth from 2020 to 2030—wind turbine service technicians (68-percent increase) and solar photovoltaic installers (52-percent increase)—involve “green” work. However, as the data show, the number of new jobs is projected to be relatively small in these and some other green occupations.

The data also show that each of these occupations had a median annual wage that was higher than the $45,760 median for all workers in 2021. The typical education required to enter these occupations varies.

Workers in green occupations focus on the environment in different ways. Wind turbine service technicians and solar photovoltaic installers, for example, build and maintain systems that create energy from sources that don’t become depleted. Other workers help to monitor the environment and investigate sources of pollution. Still others advise organizations or individuals on ways to protect and preserve natural resources.

Information about these and hundreds of other occupations is available in the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH). The OOH describes what workers do, how to enter the occupation, what the projected job outlook is, and more.