Workers install solar power modules for producing electricity on the roof of a house. Photo from Alexandra Beier, Getty Images.

By Casey Smith
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s clean energy sector recorded only modest job growth in 2024, but the clean vehicles sector showed particularly strong performance, according to a new report.

The latest Clean Jobs America report — published by San Francisco-based business group Environmental Entrepreneurs, or E2 — indicated that clean energy occupations across the United States grew by 2.8% in 2024, adding nearly 100,000 jobs and outpacing broader employment growth of 0.8%.

In Indiana, however, the pace was slower.

The report found that Indiana saw just 0.4% growth in clean energy jobs in 2024, bringing the total to approximately 90,015 Hoosier jobs. That compares to Indiana’s 2023 base of around 89,600 to 90,000 jobs. In 2022, Indiana had about 88,400 clean energy jobs, and 85,298 in 2021.

Within the clean energy job categories in Indiana, 53,445 jobs jobs were in the energy efficiency subsector; 20,331 jobs were related to clean vehicles; 12,017 jobs were in renewable generation; 3,404 jobs were in storage and grid modernization; and 818 jobs were in biofuels.

Energy efficiency — Indiana’s largest subsector — grew by just 0.1% in 2024, essentially flat compared to the prior year. Renewable generation jobs in the state increased 1.5% year over year, while storage and grid modernization rose 3.2%. Clean vehicles, meanwhile, grew by about 4.2% in Indiana, continuing as the fastest-growing subsector. Biofuels saw no measurable increase.

Regionally, the Midwest added around 13,293 clean energy jobs in 2024, equal to about 1.7% growth.

Though the overall growth was modest, clean-vehicle employment remains one of the stronger performing subsectors in Indiana.

Nationwide, clean-vehicle jobs more than doubled between 2020 and 2024, though 2024 saw a slight year-over-year dip.

Clean vehicle jobs across the U.S. declined by 3% last year — about 12,000 positions — even as Indiana managed a small gain. Energy efficiency nationwide grew by 2.6%, renewable generation grew 5.1%, and storage and grid modernization jumped 7.5%. Biofuels fell 0.4%.

Indiana’s clean vehicle jobs grew from 19,513 in 2023 to 20,331 in 2024 — an increase of 818 positions. That growth put the Hoosier State in the top tier of Midwest states for clean vehicle employment, trailing only Michigan and Ohio.

Indiana’s clean vehicle workforce is also heavily tied to manufacturing, according to the report. More than 70% of the state’s clean vehicle jobs are in making or assembling parts and components, compared to about 56% nationally.