The number of workers employed in Kentucky coal mines fell below 3,800 in the second quarter for the first time on record.
The Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet maintains coal employment and production data going back 25 years.
It’s only the fifth time since 2020 that Kentucky coal employment, both east and west, fell below 4,000.
In the first quarter of 2000, Kentucky coal mines employed 15,000 workers statewide.
It’s also only the fourth time since 2020 that statewide coal production fell below 6 million tons.
The total fell below 5 million tons only once, in the second quarter of 2020.
Statewide, production declined 9% from the second quarter of 2024. On a regional scale, production fell nearly 19% in eastern Kentucky and less than 2% in western Kentucky.
Employment fell 15% statewide in the second quarter this year.
Historically, eastern Kentucky produced more coal than western Kentucky, but that began to change in 2012. Production in both regions has declined since then, but western Kentucky still leads.
Eastern Kentucky, though, still leads in employment, with about 2,400 workers compared with western Kentucky’s 1,400 in the second quarter.
The state ranked fifth in U.S. coal production in 2023. Wyoming leads the country, followed by West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.
