Brookings finds US data centers add 100-200 jobs per county, Virginia tax break $1.6bn
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US data centers add roughly 100–200 permanent jobs in a typical county, a Brookings analysis finds. Tax incentives for colocation centers reach 62% of private investment, while Virginia's data center tax break cost $1.6 billion in fiscal 2025. More than 100 US municipalities have imposed moratoriums on construction, and over 300 state bills were filed in the first six weeks of 2026.
Key Facts
- Brookings found a typical US county gains roughly 100–200 jobs from a data center.
- Ten years after a first large data center opens, data-processing employment in a county rises 56% and telecommunications employment rises 43%.
- Tax incentives for colocation centers reach 62% of private investment, while hyperscale campus incentives average about 2%.
- Virginia's data center tax break cost the state budget $1.6 billion in fiscal 2025.
- Brookings analyzed about 1,500 built data centers and 52 announced but canceled projects across US counties from 2003 to 2024.
Brookings Methodology
The study examined roughly 1,500 completed data centers and 52 announced but canceled projects, then compared them with county employment from 2003 to 2024. Canceled projects served as a control to separate the data center effect from the natural growth of areas with cheap land, available power, and fiber. Counties receiving such investments often already had cheap land, available energy, and fiber, so they grew faster than others. This approach allowed researchers to measure the net employment effect of data center construction.
Jobs and Wages
Ten years after the first large data center opens, data-processing employment in a county rises 56 percent and telecommunications employment rises 43 percent. Wages do not change substantially, while housing prices increase by 2–5 percent. A typical county gains about 100–200 jobs because data centers are capital-intensive facilities with large equipment but relatively few personnel. Hyperscale campuses operated by Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Meta create additional demand for fiber and network infrastructure, lifting employment in both data processing and telecommunications. Colocation centers run by Equinix, Digital Realty, and CyrusOne show no additional effect on telecommunications employment.
Incentives and Scrutiny
In counties with hyperscale centers, tax breaks equal about 2 percent of private investment, with site choice driven mainly by energy, land, and fiber. For colocation centers, incentives reach 62 percent of investment, yet the local employment effect is smaller. Virginia's data center tax break alone cost the state budget $1.6 billion in fiscal 2025. More than 100 US municipalities have imposed moratoriums on data center construction, and over 300 state bills were filed in the first six weeks of 2026. Electricity costs in the PJM grid serving 65 million people across 13 states rose from $2.2 billion to $14.7 billion in a year, with nearly two-thirds of the increase attributed to data centers.
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Brookings finds US data centers add 100-200 jobs per county, Virginia tax break $1.6bn
