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Data centers create 1,300 local jobs on average, study finds

A study of over 1,500 data centers in the United States between 2000 and 2023 found that while these facilities employ few people directly, they can create between 1,000 to 1,300 indirect jobs in surrounding counties over a few years. These jobs are primarily in supporting industries rather than retail or restaurants. The research indicates that for every megawatt of data center capacity installed, approximately 2.7 nonconstruction jobs are created locally within five years, with larger investments yielding greater employment gains. AI

IMPACT Data center expansion may indirectly boost local economies through job creation in supporting industries.

RANK_REASON Academic study on economic impact of data centers. [lever_c_demoted from research: ic=1 ai=0.4]

Read on Fortune →

AI-generated summary · Google Gemini · from 1 sources. How we write summaries →

Data centers create 1,300 local jobs on average, study finds

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Academic study on economic impact of data centers. [lever_c_demoted from research: ic=1 ai=0.4]
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COVERAGE [1]

  1. Fortune TIER_1 English(EN) · Simon Buechler, Lyndsey Rolheiser, The Conversation ·

    We studied 1,500-plus data centers over 23 years and found they created almost no new jobs in local stores or restaurants — it was somewhere else

    Data centers themselves directly create a few dozen jobs each, then about 1,000 in the local economy after a delay of several years.