Miner Demographics and Statistics [2024]: Number Of Miners In The US (2024)

Miner demographics research summary. Zippia estimates miner demographics and statistics in the United States by using a database of 30 million profiles. Our miner estimates are verified against BLS, Census, and current job openings data for accuracy. Zippia's data science team found the following key facts about miners after extensive research and analysis:

There are over 14,311 miners currently employed in the United States.
9.4% of all miners are women, while 90.6% are men.
The average miner age is 40 years old.
The most common ethnicity of miners is White (76.2%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (12.6%), Unknown (4.1%) and Black or African American (4.1%).
In 2022, women earned 95% of what men earned.
4% of all miners are LGBT.
Miners are 71% more likely to work at private companies in comparison to public companies.

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Miner demographics by:

Gender
Race
Age
Education
Statistics

Miner gender statistics

9.4% of miners are women and 90.6% of miners are men.

Male, 90.6%

Female, 9.4%

Miner gender ratio

Gender	Percentages
Male	90.6%
Female	9.4%

Miner gender pay gap

Women earn 95¢ for every $1 earned by men

Male Income

$48,510

Female Income

$45,921

Miner gender ratio over time

This data breaks down the percentage of men and women in miner positions over time. Currently, 9.4% of miners are female.

Male

Female

100

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

Miner gender ratio by year

Year	Male	Female
2010	94.91%	5.09%
2011	93.36%	6.64%
2012	94.83%	5.17%
2013	90.34%	9.66%
2014	94.32%	5.68%
2015	90.95%	9.05%
2016	96.90%	3.10%
2017	93.78%	6.22%
2018	94.41%	5.59%
2019	97.99%	2.01%
2020	93.69%	6.31%
2021	90.62%	9.38%

Miner related jobs gender ratio

We compared miners with similar job titles to see how gender ratios vary. As you can see, relief driller and oil field roustabout have the biggest gender ratio gaps.

Job Title	Male	Female
Duck Bill Operator	25%	75%
Miner	91%	9%
Lead Miner, Blasting	98%	2%
Oil Field Roustabout	99%	1%
Relief Driller	99%	1%

Male

Female

100%

75%

50%

25%

Miner demographics by race

The most common ethnicity among miners is White, which makes up 76.2% of all miners. Comparatively, 12.6% of miners are Hispanic or Latino and 4.1% of miners are Unknown.

White, 76.2%

Hispanic or Latino, 12.6%

Black or African American, 4.1%

Unknown, 4.1%

American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.4%

Asian, 0.6%

Miner Race

Miner Race	Percentages
White	76.2%
Hispanic or Latino	12.6%
Black or African American	4.1%
Unknown	4.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native	2.4%
Asian	0.6%

Miner race and ethnicity over time

See how miner racial and ethnic diversity trended since 2010 according to the United States Census Bureau data.

White
Asian
Hispanic or Latino
Black or African American

Miner race and ethnicity by year

Year	White	Black or African American	Asian	Hispanic or Latino
2010	79.69%	5.03%	0.55%	13.03%
2011	78.42%	5.91%	0.50%	13.26%
2012	75.78%	5.56%	0.17%	14.30%
2013	78.03%	4.98%	0.16%	14.42%
2014	75.77%	5.93%	0.76%	13.92%
2015	75.87%	6.41%	0.57%	13.77%
2016	76.61%	4.34%	0.20%	14.90%
2017	75.85%	4.00%	1.29%	15.41%
2018	76.23%	4.28%	1.72%	14.18%
2019	79.10%	3.94%	0.52%	13.86%
2020	73.67%	6.41%	0.65%	14.97%
2021	76.17%	4.07%	0.65%	12.56%

Miner wage gap by race

According to our data, white miners have the highest average salary compared to other ethnicities. Asian miners have the lowest average salary at $40,266.

$57,000

$53,000

$49,000

$45,000

$41,000

$37,000

Unknown

White

Black or African American

Asian

Hispanic or Latino

Ethnicity	Salary
Unknown	$50,417
White	$55,755
Black or African American	$46,049
Asian	$40,266
Hispanic or Latino	$51,540

Average miner age

See how the average age of miners varies based on ethnicity and gender.

Male

Female

Unknown

White

Hispanic or Latino

Miner age by race and gender

Race	Male Age	Female Age
Unknown	43
White	39.5
Hispanic or Latino	39.5

Miner age breakdown

The average age of miners is 40+ years years old, representing 50% of the miner population.

40+ years

30-40 years

20-30 years

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Miner age breakdown

Miner Years	Percentages
40+ years	50%
30-40 years	36%
20-30 years	14%

Miner educational attainment

The most common degree for miners is high school diploma, with 41% of miners earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are bachelor's degree degree at 25% and bachelor's degree degree at 15%.

High School Diploma, 41%

Bachelor's, 25%

Associate, 15%

Diploma, 7%

Other Degrees, 12%

Miners by degree level

Miner Degree	Percentages
High School Diploma	41%
Bachelor's	25%
Associate	15%
Diploma	7%
Other Degrees	12%

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Miner wage gap by degree level

According to the data, miners with a Bachelor's degree earn more than those without, at $48,920 annually. With a Associate degree, miners earn a median annual income of $48,202 compared to $41,148 for miners with an High School Diploma degree.

$50,000

$48,000

$46,000

$44,000

$42,000

$40,000

High School Diploma or Less

Bachelor's Degree

Some College/ Associate Degree

Education	Salary
High School Diploma or Less	$41,148
Bachelor's Degree	$48,920
Some College/ Associate Degree	$48,202

Learn More About Miner Required Education

Miner employment statistics

Most miners work for a private in the manufacturing industry.

Company size where miners work

Below, you can see the size of companies where miners work.

< 50 employees

50 - 100 employees

100 - 500 employees

500 - 1,000 employees

1,000 - 10,000 employees

> 10,000

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Miner jobs by employer size

Company Size	Percentages
< 50 employees	8%
50 - 100 employees	17%
100 - 500 employees	27%
500 - 1,000 employees	6%
1,000 - 10,000 employees	29%
> 10,000 employees	13%

Miner jobs by company type

Employees with the miner job title have their preferences when it comes to working for a company. For instance, most miners prefer to work at private companies over public companies.

Education

Public

Private

Government

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Miner jobs by sector

Company Type	Percentages
Education	1%
Public	24%
Private	71%
Government	4%

Miner jobs by industry

The most common industries for miners are manufacturing, construction and energy.

Manufacturing

Construction

Energy

Finance

Professional

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Miner industry statistics

Industry	Percentages
Manufacturing	24%
Construction	15%
Energy	8%
Finance	7%
Professional	7%
Fortune 500	6%
Hospitality	6%
Retail	4%
Media	3%
Utilities	3%
Health Care	3%
Real Estate	3%
Technology	3%
Transportation	2%
Government	2%
Insurance	2%
Start-up	2%
Internet	1%
Education	1%
Telecommunication	1%

Miner turnover and employment statistics

Miner unemployment rate over time

The unemployment rate for miners between 2008 and the most recent data has varied, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unemployment rate

Miner unemployment rate by year

Year	Miner Unemployment Rate
2010	8.55%
2011	4.18%
2012	7.59%
2013	7.59%
2014	4.80%
2015	6.43%
2016	9.78%
2017	3.65%
2018	3.65%
2019	2.77%
2020	9.16%
2021	5.12%

Average miner tenure

The average miner stays at their job for 1-2 years, based on the 4,110 miners resumes in Zippia's database.

Less than one year

1-2 years

3-4 years

5-7 years

8-10 years

11+ years

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Miner tenure statistics

Number of years	Percentages
Less than 1 year	32%
1-2 years	31%
3-4 years	13%
5-7 years	12%
8-10 years	5%
11+ years	7%

Miner LGBT ratio compared to similar jobs

Review the percent of miners that are members of the LGBT community. You can see how this compares to similar jobs in the chart below.

Job Title	LGBT	Job Openings
Acidizer	2.29%	8,813
Shield Operator	2.32%	25,646
Rock Drill Operator	2.64%	26,005
Miner	4.26%	-

Miner

Rock Drill Operator

Shield Operator

Acidizer

Similar miner jobs LGBT demographics

Profession	Percentages of LGBT	Job Openings
Acidizer	2.29%	8,813
Shield Operator	2.32%	25,646
Rock Drill Operator	2.64%	26,005

Foreign languages spoken by miners

The most common foreign language among miners is Spanish at 66.7%. The second-most popular foreign language spoken is Portuguese at 11.1% and Nepali is the third-most popular at 3.7%.

Spanish, 66.7%

Portuguese, 11.1%

Nepali, 3.7%

German, 3.7%

Tagalog, 3.7%

Other, 11.1%

Miner languages spoken

Foreign Language	Percentages
Spanish	66.7%
Portuguese	11.1%
Nepali	3.7%
German	3.7%
Tagalog	3.7%
Other	11.1%

Miner Jobs

Miner location demographics

Which city has the most Miners?

By looking through more than 4,110 resumes, we found that the most popular places for miners are Elko, NV and Winnemucca, NV.

Number of Miners

Miner jobs by state

Rank	State	Number of Jobs	Average Salary
1	California	16	$47,029
2	Pennsylvania	8	$44,855
3	Virginia	7	$41,971
4	New York	6	$45,380
5	West Virginia	5	$48,764
6	Texas	4	$41,289
7	Florida	4	$38,377
8	Oregon	3	$46,765
9	Arizona	3	$44,282
10	Louisiana	3	$42,895
11	Alaska	2	$60,595
12	Delaware	2	$47,823
13	Illinois	2	$46,105
14	Massachusetts	2	$45,995
15	District of Columbia	2	$46,206
16	Michigan	2	$42,840
17	Utah	2	$42,489
18	Tennessee	2	$39,079
19	Georgia	2	$38,893
20	Idaho	1	$43,779
21	South Carolina	1	$41,361
22	Indiana	1	$40,271
23	Arkansas	1	$39,221
24	Alabama	1	$39,173
25	North Carolina	1	$39,409
26	Missouri	1	$39,024
27	Nevada	0	$48,761
28	Kentucky	0	$46,688
29	Rhode Island	0	$47,037
30	Connecticut	0	$47,893
31	Montana	0	$45,834
32	Ohio	0	$44,353
33	New Hampshire	0	$44,974
34	Washington	0	$46,877
35	South Dakota	0	$43,766
36	Maryland	0	$46,654
37	Kansas	0	$43,886
38	New Jersey	0	$45,418
39	Vermont	0	$44,036
40	North Dakota	0	$42,652
41	Wisconsin	0	$42,103
42	New Mexico	0	$42,250
43	Wyoming	0	$40,727
44	Minnesota	0	$42,246
45	Hawaii	0	$46,077
46	Mississippi	0	$39,534
47	Iowa	0	$40,057
48	Maine	0	$40,261
49	Oklahoma	0	$39,677
50	Colorado	0	$39,889
51	Nebraska	0	$39,250

Miner Demographics FAQs

How many Miner are there in the US?

What percentage of Miners are black?

What race are most Miners?

Are Miner jobs male - dominated?

How old is the average Miner?

Have more questions?

See all answers to common construction and extraction questions.

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FAQs

Miner Demographics and Statistics [2024]: Number Of Miners In The US? ›

As of March 2024, the United States' coal mining industry employed over 33,000 people. This was a notable decrease compared to June 2022, when 62,345 people were employed by the U.S. coal mining industry.

Read On ›

How many miners are there in the USA? ›

There are 563,020 people employed in the Mining industry in the US as of 2023.

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What are the demographics of miners? ›

The average coal miner age is 40 years old. The most common ethnicity of coal miners is White (79.4%), followed by Hispanic or Latino (9.1%), Black or African American (4.8%) and Unknown (3.9%). In 2022, women earned 94% of what men earned.

What percent of Americans are miners? ›

Mining labor constitutes less than one quarter of one percent of the available U.S. workforce; yet this small workforce is the starting point for a value chain that consistently contributes 13 to 14 percent of the U.S. economy.

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How many coal miners are in the US today? ›

Profile of a U.S. coal miner

As of 2022, the total number of U.S. coal mining jobs amounted to 43,524. That was a significant decrease compared to a decade earlier, when there were 89,838 U.S. coal miners. The highest number of U.S. coal mining jobs as of 2022 were in West Virginia, with 12,997.

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What are the top 5 mining states in the US? ›

The Top Mineral-Producing States in the U.S.

Rank	State	Mineral Production Value (2022)
1	Arizona	$10.1B
2	Nevada	$8.9B
3	Texas	$8.0B
4	California	$5.6B

6 more rows

Mar 20, 2023

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What percentage of men are miners? ›

Miner gender ratio

Gender	Percentages
Male	90.6%
Female	9.4%

Show Me More ›

What is the majority of mining in the US? ›

Coal is the most mined commodity in the U.S. According to the Annual Coal Report, the U.S. produced 594.2 million tons of coal in 2022. This coal came from 548 mines operated in 22 states.

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What percentage of the US economy is mining? ›

The mining sector employed approximately 606.9 thousand jobs, or 0.5 percent of all total nonfarm employees in 2023, and contributed 1.4 percent to GDP.

What is the average age of a miner? ›

Age and gender Copy LinkLink Copied Copy LinkLink Copied

Age and Gender	Miners	All Occupations
Median age	42 years	40 years
Female share of employment	12%	49%

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What do most miners suffer from? ›

Examples include coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP), a dust-induced scarring lung disease commonly called black lung), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung function impairment. All of these cause substantial morbidity (illness) and mortality (death) among affected coal miners.

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Where do miners make the most money? ›

PROJECT DIRECTOR/DRILLING OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

These are the highest paying jobs in the mining sector, with salaries exceeding $400,000 per year. A Project Director in the mining industry oversees the comprehensive management of mining projects, from the initial planning stages through to completion.

See Details ›

What US state has the most coal? ›

The five largest coal-producing states with production in thousand short tons, and their percentage shares of total U.S. coal production in 2022, were:

Wyoming—244,730—41.2%
West Virginia—83,448—14.0%
Pennsylvania—39,701—6.7%
Illinois—37,488—6.3%
Kentucky—28,527—4.8%

Get More Info Here ›

What are the demographics of coal miners? ›

The workforce of Coal mining Industry Group in 2022 was 56,265 people, with 6.54% woman, and 93.5% men. In 2022, 89.6% of the workforce in the Coal mining Industry Group was White (50,440 people), of which 6% were women and 94% men.

Who owns most of the coal mines in USA? ›

Table 3: Major Holders of U.S. Coal Reserves (Billion short tons).

Luminant (formerly TXU and Alcoa) ...
Patriot Coal (formerly Peabody mines) ...
International Coal Group. 0.965.
Westmoreland Coal. 0.946.
Penn Virginia Resource Partners, LP. 0.818.
Alliance Resource Partners. 0.713.
Magnum Coal Company. 0.650.
Alpha Natural Resources.

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May 5, 2021

Do coal miners make good money? ›

As of Jun 13, 2024, the average hourly pay for a Coal Miner in the United States is $23.25 an hour. While ZipRecruiter is seeing hourly wages as high as $31.97 and as low as $17.55, the majority of Coal Miner wages currently range between $20.43 (25th percentile) to $25.00 (75th percentile) across the United States.

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Who is the largest miner in the world? ›

BHP Group

It is the world's largest mining company by market cap and one of the top producers of commodities such as iron ore, copper, and petroleum.

How many miners are killed each year? ›

The number of fatal injuries in the mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction industry rose from 78 in 2020 to 95 in 2021, a 21.8-percent increase. Fatal injuries in the industry were above 100 in the three years prior to 2020: 112 fatalities in 2017, 130 fatalities in 2018, and 127 fatalities in 2019.

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What is the biggest mining company in the USA? ›

The leading United States mining company based on revenue as of 2024 was Freeport-McMoRan. At that time, the company's revenue during the most recent fiscal year amounted to nearly 23.8 billion U.S. dollars.

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