# U.S. Data Center Capacity Linked to 7.4 Local Jobs per Megawatt By Simon Yoon Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/44767 Published: 2026-10-30T14:19:57.000Z Updated: 2026-10-30T14:19:57.000Z Section: Technology > The estimate covers nonconstruction employment across host counties five years after capacity is added, with gains led by transportation, warehousing and technical services. Each additional megawatt of U.S. data center capacity was associated with about 7.4 more local nonconstruction jobs five years later, while employment changed little in the first two years after a county’s first facility opened. Researchers analyzed 1,584 data centers that opened in the United States from 2000 through 2023. They matched facility locations, opening dates and power capacity with federal county-level employment, wage and business data. The analysis used synthetic difference-in-differences and local projections to estimate employment patterns after a first facility opened, comparing host counties with comparable counties. Estimated employment gains appeared in years three through five. The measure covers nonconstruction employment across host counties, not the number of people directly hired by data center operators. Five years after capacity was added, each additional megawatt (MW) was associated with about 7.4 local nonconstruction jobs. Each installed MW also predicted another 1.7 MW of later capacity. After accounting for that later capacity, the researchers calculated 2.74 jobs per effective MW. The gains were concentrated in transportation and warehousing, along with professional and technical services. Retail, restaurants and other local services showed little employment growth. Most later capacity came from existing operators expanding, while only a small share came from new entrants. A separate [earlier estimate of local data center jobs]() put the figure at nearly 1,300 jobs per 100 MW. It used a different method and job measure, so the estimates are not directly comparable. The study’s sample ends in 2023, and its authors cautioned that the findings may not apply to today’s largest AI data center projects. The research left out power and water demand, noise and tax incentives, so it cannot establish whether job gains compensate for those costs. ## Links in this article - [earlier estimate of local data center jobs](https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/28989)