Overview

The Clean Jobs Midwest report is derived from the United States Energy and Employment Report (USEER). Clean Jobs Midwest reports employment and growth in clean energy technologies for the 12 Midwest states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

The 2024 USEER methodology relies on the most recently available data from the BLS QCEW (QCEW, third quarter 2023), the BLS Unemployment Situation Table B-1 monthly reports, together with a detailed supplemental survey of business establishments across the U.S. designed and conducted by BW Research Partnership in partnership with the DOE.

Taken together, the BLS and survey data provide the most comprehensive calculation of energy-related employment available. The methodology has been used for local, state, and federal energy-related data collection and analysis for a decade.

If you have other questions about the Clean Jobs Midwest report, please explore our Frequently Asked Questions.

Discussion of USEER Methodology

The 2024 USEER relies on a survey of 42,100 business representatives to analyze existing data from the BLS based on technology and value-chain definitions that reflect the activities of the DOE. The survey is conducted using a stratified sampling method (which relies on survey quotas based on specific characteristics of companies, to ensure representation). BW Research uses three characteristics in this sampling plan: (1) NAICS industry, (2) state location, and (3) company size. 

Using the NAICS framework and building the sample frame using establishment totals from the QCEW allows for more accurate and efficient data collection and analysis. Further, it accommodates changes in business models. If a utility, for example, outsources a portion of its activities to a construction firm, USEER’s methodology allows for those jobs to continue to be counted and tracked. 

At the same time, employment is allocated based on NAICS industries only. In the utility-outsourcing example used above, the USEER would still count the jobs as energy employment but would allocate those jobs to construction rather than utilities. Because the supplemental survey captures employment across a wide range of activities and industries, the report includes more than a million jobs that would not otherwise be identified as part of the Traditional Energy sectors. 

The USEER relies primarily on data from public sources as well as a comprehensive employer survey. As a result, there are some data limitations. The overall margin of error for identifying Qualifying Firms is +/- 0.47% at a 95% confidence interval. The margin of error for the number of Qualifying Workers sector-wide is +/- 0.97% at a 95% confidence interval. Data included in this report represent an estimate with a range based on the specific margin of error.

For more information on USEER methodology, refer to Appendix B from the 2024 USEER.

^1. The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments for the purposes of collecting, analyzing, and publishing statistical data related to the U.S. economy.