Can the Inflation Reduction Act Bring to Georgia? How Many?

After narrowly passing through a Democratically controlled Congress along party lines, President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law on Aug. 16, 2022. The law allocates $500 billion in new spending. While it may marginally reduce inflation over the long term, its largest impact will likely be on the U.S. energy grid, as most of the money in it is slated for clean energy initiatives.

Through a range of federal subsidies, including rebates, loans, and tax credits, the IRA provides incentives to households, businesses, and state and local governments to invest in clean energy while moving away from fossil fuels. With nearly $370 billion in clean energy funding, the act marks the most significant action the U.S. has ever taken toward addressing climate change.

Not only could the IRA result in a 40% to 50% reduction in America’s greenhouse gas emissions, as Democrats in Washington have argued, but it could also be a boon for the job market — particularly in hard-hit sectors, like manufacturing. According to the independent, nonprofit clean energy advocacy group, Rocky Mountain Institute, the IRA could create over 1.3 million new jobs in 2030 alone.

Based on data from the Rocky Mountain Institute, Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act could create as many as 40,112 jobs in Georgia in 2030 — or one job for every 272 people, the 12th most among the 48 contiguous states.

As of 2022, 159,182 Georgia residents were unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Based on these most recent annual unemployment figures, the number of potential new jobs the IRA could bring in 2030 would reduce joblessness by 25.2% in the state.

All data on the number of potential new jobs created by the IRA in 2030 is from the Rocky Mountain Institute’s report, The Economic Tides Just Turned for States. Alaska and Hawaii were not included in this analysis.

Rank	State	Num. of state residents per job created by the IRA in 2030	Potential new jobs created by the IRA in 2030	New jobs in 2030 as pct. of 2022 unemployed pop. (%)
1	Utah	251.3	13,423	33.2
2	Idaho	253.9	7,457	29.5
3	Texas	257.5	116,280	20.4
4	North Dakota	257.7	3,106	35.6
5	Nevada	260.0	12,251	14.6
6	Colorado	260.4	22,742	23.4
7	Washington	261.0	30,273	18.0
8	Florida	261.1	84,592	27.0
9	Arizona	268.4	27,209	19.7
10	South Carolina	271.9	19,187	24.9
11	Oregon	272.1	15,873	17.5
12	Georgia	272.2	40,112	25.2
13	Delaware	273.1	3,692	16.5
14	Montana	275.1	4,011	26.8
15	North Carolina	275.4	38,568	20.5
16	South Dakota	277.1	3,252	33.1
17	Tennessee	277.1	25,348	22.3
18	Virginia	280.2	31,255	24.6
19	Minnesota	281.1	20,588	24.9
20	Nebraska	281.7	7,060	28.4
21	Massachusetts	281.8	25,290	18.0
22	Maryland	282.9	22,117	21.5
23	California	285.7	140,005	17.3
24	New Jersey	287.2	32,689	18.6
25	Oklahoma	287.6	13,914	24.4
26	Alabama	288.9	17,557	29.6
27	Iowa	290.2	11,092	23.6
28	Indiana	290.5	23,568	23.1
29	New Hampshire	290.5	4,784	24.7
30	Rhode Island	291.8	3,792	20.8
31	New York	291.8	69,790	17.0
32	Kentucky	293.2	15,482	19.4
33	Wisconsin	293.9	20,196	22.4
34	Arkansas	295.1	10,271	22.6
35	Kansas	296.1	9,978	24.9
36	New Mexico	296.6	7,179	18.8
37	Missouri	296.8	20,848	27.1
38	Vermont	296.8	2,178	24.1
39	Louisiana	296.9	15,771	20.7
40	Maine	297.6	4,601	23.1
41	Pennsylvania	298.2	43,801	15.5
42	Wyoming	298.3	1,943	18.7
43	Ohio	298.5	39,702	17.2
44	Michigan	299.6	33,761	16.6
45	Connecticut	303.4	11,904	14.8
46	Illinois	307.2	41,694	14.1
47	Mississippi	307.4	9,628	19.6
48	West Virginia	318.9	5,587	18.2