Data Center Development Cost Guide 2025

DATA CENTER DEVELOPMENT COST GUIDE 2025

LABOR

DATA CENTER LABOR AVAILABILITY

UNITED STATES: DATA CENTER-RELATED OCCUPATIONS

Electrical Engineers & Technicians

Portland

2.7

7K

Seattle Austin

2.5

6K

2.4

10K

Kansas City San Francisco

1.8 1.8 1.8

8K

4K

Reno

Denver Boston Dallas

1.7

5K

1.6 1.6 1.6

8K

13K

Columbus Charlotte Phoenix Minneapolis Salt Lake City Indianapolis Des Moines Los Angeles Las Vegas Wenatchee Washington DC

2K

1.5 1.5 1.5

3K

8K

4K

1.4 1.4 1.4

5K

9K

17K

1.2 1.2

3K

1.1 1.1 1.1

3K

2K

Nashville

1.0

6K

Atlanta

0.9 0.9

18K

New York Chicago

8K

Total Resident Workers Resident Workers Per 1,000 Capita

Source: Cushman & Wakefield Research, Lightcast

The rapid proliferation of data centers across North America has strained access to both power and the specialized labor pool needed to build and operate these facilities. In some markets, securing an adequate workforce has become a challenge. Given the high capital expenditure required to develop these facilities, it’s important that companies ensure talent availability and mitigate labor risks to avoid prolonged construction timelines and unexpected labor costs increases. Among the top 24 U.S. data center markets, New York claimed the largest labor force in three of the four workforce categories analyzed, while Wenatchee, Washington, with a much smaller population, had the smallest. However, on a per capita basis, New York ranked among the bottom five across categories despite its high absolute numbers. Austin led in resident workers per capita, followed by Denver and Des Moines. Larger metros like New York, Los Angeles and Chicago struggled with per capita talent, with Austin nearly doubling their talent per capita. Overall, construction workers were the most abundant, with over 757,000 resident workers across the 24 markets, followed by information technology (407,000), technicians (227,000) and electrical engineers and technicians (153,000).

14

15

Cushman & Wakefield