U.S. coal-mining jobs ranking 2023, by state

West Virginia was the state with the most coal-mining jobs in the United States, with some 14,014 employees in 2023. The state's coal mining employment has been in decline since 2010, when just over 21,000 people were working in the sector. By comparison, there were 5,029 jobs in this industry in Kentucky in 2023, which was the second-largest coal mining employer state. 

Coal-mining employment in the U.S.

Of all U.S. coal-producing regions, the Appalachian region held the most significant portion of available coal-mining jobs, amounting to over 26,000 employees in total in 2023. The total coal-mining employment in the United States reached 45,443 jobs in that same year. More than half of those jobs were in underground mines. Similarly, in West Virginia, there were 10,219 underground mining jobs and 2,778 surface mining jobs as of 2022. 

U.S. mining industry employment breakdown

The entire U.S. mining industry employed some 182,000 people (with the exclusion of the oil and gas sector, which is also considered mining) in 2022. U.S. coal mining employment increased in the early 2010s due to increases in exports and decreases within local coal mines. Decreases in productivity within the mines require more workers per unit of production. Although energy derived from coal still accounts for a large part of the United States' electricity production, the U.S. solar power industry is currently providing many more jobs than the coal mining industry.