New Data: Solar Power Wages Growing Faster, Paying More Than Oil And Gas Jobs

Washington, D.C. – Earlier this week, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) released a new set of annual data showing that the average annual pay across industries. BLS found solar electricity generation wages are now higher and are growing faster than the average annual pay in oil and gas extraction. 

“Today’s jobs report is a very promising sign but we still need to build back better with millions of new jobs just to get back to where we were before the pandemic, and we can do that and more with the American Jobs Plan,” said Climate Power Executive Director Lori Lodes. “The transformational investments proposed by President Biden will continue to raise the bar – and wages – for clean energy jobs by ensuring the highest worker standards possible and the right to join a union. Unlike API, the numbers don’t lie: clean energy can help rebuild our economy, combat the climate crisis, and power the recovery in communities across America.”

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics annual release of Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics on March 31st found that in 2020, solar electricity generation had an average annual pay of $98,230 – a 9.4 percent growth in pay between 2019 and 2020, versus an average annual pay of $97,660 for oil and gas extraction jobs and only a 1.1 percent growth in pay during the same time period. 

At the start of 2020, clean energy jobs employed nearly 3.4 million workers across the country, and that number will only continue to grow as we work to build back better with high-quality, union jobs that help rebuild the middle class.