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- Delaney Sawyer via Fast Company
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Data centers create about 2.7 local jobs per megawatt, study finds
ReData centers create about 2.7 local jobs per megawatt, study finds
A study of 1,584 U.S. data centers that opened from 2000 to 2023 finds they generate jobs in their host counties, mostly in support industries and only after a few years.
New data centers that opened in the United States from 2000 to 2023 created roughly 1,000 to 1,300 nonconstruction jobs in their host counties, on average, according to a study by a team of economists who study real estate and urban economics. The jobs, however, are not inside the facilities and do not arrive right away. They tend to appear three to five years after a center opens and cluster in industries that support data centers rather than in local shops and restaurants.
The findings arrive as communities across the country question what they receive in return for large data center investments. Those investments include land, buildings, computer equipment and power infrastructure. Once operating, the facilities typically employ no more than a few dozen people in roles such as IT technicians, engineers and security guards. Skepticism about local benefits has fueled opposition to new projects in places such as Ohio and Texas, and the authors note that pushback contributed to delays or cancellations of $156 billion in proposed data center projects in 2025 alone.
To measure the effect, the researchers assembled detailed information on 1,584 U.S. data centers that opened between 2000 and 2023, recording each facility's location, opening date and power capacity. They matched those records with federal data on employment, wages and the number of businesses in each county. Because operators tend to choose places that already have reliable electricity, fiber connections, available land and friendly regulations, the team compared employment trends in counties that received data centers with similar counties that did not, tracking both before and after the facility opened.
The analysis found little change in employment outside construction during the first two years after a county's first data center opened. Growth followed later. Five years after new capacity was installed, each additional megawatt was associated with about 7.4 more nonconstruction local jobs. Part of that gain reflects further expansion, since each megawatt installed was associated with another 1.7 megawatts of capacity in the following years. Accounting for that later growth, the estimate works out to about 2.7 nonconstruction jobs per megawatt of eventual capacity. A 100-megawatt facility would therefore be associated with roughly 275 additional local jobs outside the data center itself.
The researchers identified three ways data centers can generate local employment beyond their own staff. They can increase demand for local suppliers, such as security companies and electrical contractors. Data center employees and supplier workers may also spend more money in the area, supporting local services. Finally, existing operators may expand, and other operators may choose to build nearby once the necessary infrastructure is in place. The gains were concentrated in transportation and warehousing, professional and technical services, and real estate. The team found little evidence of job growth in restaurants, stores and other local services, and more investment tended to follow in the same county, mostly through expansions by companies already operating there rather than new entrants.
The study has limits. It covers facilities that opened through 2023, before the current wave of very large facilities built to power artificial intelligence. The authors caution that larger data centers do not necessarily create proportionally more jobs, so the findings may not apply to today's biggest projects. The study also measured only job gains and did not assess whether data centers are worth their costs to local communities. Those costs include heavy electricity and water consumption, noise and substantial tax breaks from local and state governments, none of which the authors addressed. Their conclusion is that data centers do create jobs beyond the small number of people working inside them, but whether those jobs justify the costs remains an open question.
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