Harnessing wind with giant turbines on plains, ridges, and out at sea, including the climbers who fix them hundreds of feet in the air.
Top pay: highest pay, longest training
Wind Turbine Design Engineer: Designs wind turbines, including blades longer than a football field and the machinery inside. Typical pay $112k.
Wind Project Developer: Finds windy land, signs up landowners, and steers new wind farms through permits and power contracts. Typical pay $120k.
Wind Drivetrain Reliability Engineer: Keeps wind turbine gearboxes, bearings, and generators from failing by analyzing data from thousands of turbines. Typical pay $110k.
Mid pay: solid pay, degree or apprenticeship
Wind Resource Analyst: Measures and predicts how much wind (and money) a site will produce over decades. Typical pay $95k.
Wind Farm Site Manager: Runs a wind farm: the technicians, safety, maintenance schedule, and the turbines' output. Typical pay $100k.
Wind Turbine Technician: Climbs wind turbines to inspect, maintain, and repair them, high above the ground. Typical pay $63k.
Offshore Wind Technician: Maintains wind turbines out at sea, riding boats and helicopters to reach them. Typical pay $75k.
Wind Blade Repair Technician: Hangs from ropes on the outside of turbine blades to repair cracks and lightning damage. Typical pay $68k.
Wind Turbine Crane Operator: Operates the giant cranes that lift turbine towers, nacelles, and blades into place. Typical pay $65k.
Wind Energy Wildlife Biologist: Studies birds and bats near wind farms and finds ways to protect them. Typical pay $72k.
Wind Remote Operations Controller: Monitors hundreds of wind turbines across the country from a 24/7 control room. Typical pay $68k.
Land Agent (Renewables): Negotiates leases with landowners to host wind turbines, solar panels, or power lines. Typical pay $70k.
Offshore Wind Fisheries Liaison: Acts as the go-between for offshore wind companies and commercial fishermen, sharing boat schedules and handling claims for lost fishing gear. Typical pay $80k.
Met Tower & Lidar Technician: Installs and maintains weather towers and laser wind sensors at potential wind farm sites. Typical pay $50k.
Wind Farm Construction Laborer: Builds wind farms: digging foundations, building roads, and helping assemble turbines. Typical pay $46k.
Wind Technician Trainee: An entry-level wind tech who learns on the job alongside senior technicians. Typical pay $48k.
Wind Blade Recycling Technician: Cuts retired wind turbine blades, each longer than a basketball court, into chunks and grinds them into filler for cement and building panels. Typical pay $44k.
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