Yes, tens of thousands of people still work in coal mines. The U.S. alone employed about 44,060 coal miners as of the most recent federal data, though that number dropped by roughly 1,400 workers from the year before. Coal mining is a shrinking industry, but it hasn’t disappeared. Globally, the workforce is far larger, with countries like China, India, Indonesia, and Australia still operating massive mining operations.
How Many People Work in U.S. Coal Mines
The U.S. Energy Information Administration tracks coal employment annually. The most recent figures show approximately 44,060 workers at American coal mines, a steady decline that has been underway for decades. For context, the U.S. coal workforce peaked at over 800,000 miners in the 1920s and still employed more than 90,000 as recently as 2012. The drop since then has been steep, driven by competition from cheaper natural gas, the growth of renewable energy, and the depletion of easily accessible coal seams.
The remaining jobs are concentrated in a handful of states. Wyoming produces the most coal by volume, largely from enormous surface mines in the Powder River Basin that use heavy machinery and relatively small crews. West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Kentucky still have significant mining operations as well, with a heavier mix of underground mines that require more workers per ton of coal produced.
What Coal Miners Actually Do Today
Modern coal mining looks very different from the pickaxe-and-headlamp image most people picture. Surface mines, which account for the majority of U.S. coal production, use massive draglines and truck-shovel operations where workers operate equipment from enclosed cabs, sometimes with GPS-guided systems. Underground mines use continuous mining machines or longwall shearers that can extract entire panels of coal with a fraction of the labor once required.
The jobs themselves range from equipment operators and electricians to safety inspectors, ventilation engineers, and blasting specialists. Many miners today need technical certifications and training on computerized systems. Entry-level mining jobs in the U.S. typically pay between $50,000 and $80,000 per year, with experienced operators and supervisors earning well above that, which is one reason the profession persists in regions with few other high-paying options for workers without a four-year degree.
The Health Risks Haven’t Gone Away
Coal mining remains one of the more dangerous occupations in the country, both in terms of immediate physical hazards and long-term health consequences. The Mine Safety and Health Administration recorded 10 coal mining fatalities in 2024 and 9 in 2023. While those numbers are dramatically lower than the hundreds of annual deaths common in the mid-20th century, the risk of roof collapses, equipment accidents, and methane explosions is still real.
The bigger health story is lung disease. Black lung disease, formally called coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, is caused by years of breathing in fine coal and silica dust. The CDC has documented a troubling resurgence of the disease, particularly its most severe form: progressive massive fibrosis, which creates large, dense masses of scar tissue in the lungs and is irreversible. This increase has been especially pronounced among underground miners in central Appalachia. The disease typically takes 25 or more years of dust exposure to develop, meaning miners diagnosed today were often first exposed decades ago. But the rising rates suggest that current dust controls in some mines are not providing adequate protection.
Why Coal Mining Continues
Coal still generates about 16% of U.S. electricity, down from nearly half in the early 2000s but still a significant share. Beyond power generation, metallurgical coal (used to make steel) remains in demand worldwide, and U.S. producers export substantial quantities. As long as coal-fired power plants operate and steelmakers need coking coal, mines will keep running and hiring.
In many coal-producing communities, mining jobs are woven into the local economy and identity. A single mine can be the largest employer in a rural county, supporting not just the miners themselves but trucking companies, equipment suppliers, restaurants, and tax revenue for schools. This economic dependency is part of why the industry’s decline has been so painful for places like southern West Virginia and eastern Kentucky, where replacement industries have been slow to arrive.
The Global Picture
Outside the U.S., coal mining is not just surviving but expanding in some regions. China employs millions of coal miners and remains the world’s largest producer and consumer of coal. India has been aggressively increasing coal production to meet growing electricity demand. Indonesia is one of the world’s top coal exporters. Australia operates large-scale mines that ship coal across Asia.
Even in Europe, where coal phase-outs are further along, Poland still has a substantial mining workforce, and Germany only closed its last black coal mine in 2018. The global coal workforce likely numbers in the millions, though exact figures are difficult to pin down because many countries don’t track employment as precisely as the U.S. does. The International Energy Agency projects that global coal demand will decline gradually through the 2030s, but “gradually” still means years of continued mining activity and employment worldwide.