Economic benefits
Data centers drive jobs, growth and community impact
Data centers bring significant economic benefits to Virginia, driven primarily by the industry’s large capital investments during construction. Most of this spending stays in the state, supporting Virginia-based contractors and suppliers.
“Data Centers industry contributes an estimated:
74,000 jobs,
$5.5 billion in labor income, and
$9.1 billion in GDP annually
”
While operational staffing is relatively lean — around 50 full-time workers per 250,000-square-foot facility — construction projects can employ up to 1,500 workers at their peak.
Statewide, the data center industry contributes an estimated 74,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in labor income, and $9.1 billion in GDP annually, with much of this impact stemming from the construction phase.
Data centers can generate substantial local tax revenues for localities
Data centers generate significant local tax revenues — primarily from real property and business personal property taxes.
Tax amounts vary based on facility size and local rates. Some jurisdictions lower equipment tax rates to attract data center investments, which can reduce immediate revenue. However, in mature markets, data centers can contribute anywhere from under 1% to over 30% of local revenues.
Henrico County, for example, created a $60 million affordable housing trust fund from the local data center tax revenues to create equitable housing opportunities for all residents.
Local tax revenue from data centers also are being reinvested to support long-term community needs and financial stability for local governments, according to a JLARC report. For instance, this funding has enabled Loudoun and Prince William counties to lower real estate tax rates and establish revenue stabilization or reserve funds.
Beyond taxes, data centers also spur public and private investment in roads, broadband expansion, and grid upgrades, which benefit residents and businesses alike.
Many data center operators actively engage in philanthropy and community partnerships, supporting local nonprofits, workforce training programs, and STEM education initiatives. During the last couple of years, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, which has a large data center in eastern Henrico County, has donated more than $4 million to community nonprofit organizations, schools, and educational programs across the Richmond region.
Virginia state taxes on data centers
Virginia’s data center sales tax exemption, which has saved the industry nearly $1 billion annually, is set to expire in 2035 and could be extended, phased out, or modified depending on future policy goals.
Because data centers plan long-term, decisions about the exemption’s future will significantly impact whether Virginia remains competitive in attracting new investment while also balancing concerns around energy use and community impact.
Economic Impact
GDP
The U.S. data center industry contributed $727 billion to the nation’s GDP in 2023 — an increase of 105% since 2017, according to a report by consultant PwC report prepared for the Data Center Coalition.
When accounting for direct, indirect, and induced impacts, the industry generated a total of $3.46 trillion in GDP from 2017 to 2023.
For every dollar the data center sector added to GDP, an additional $2.50 was generated elsewhere in the U.S. economy.
Job Creation
The U.S. data center industry supported a total of 4.7 million jobs in data centers, as well as in the construction, telecommunications, power infrastructure, technology manufacturing sectors, and more, the PwC report said. That marked a 60% increase.
Direct employment in the U.S. data center industry grew by more than 50% between 2017 and 2023, five times the national employment growth rate of 10% over the same period.
Each direct job in the data center sector supports over six additional jobs across the broader U.S. economy.
Tax Revenue
The data center industry is an important tax contributor to the U.S. economy, making contributions at the federal, state, and local level that support the financing of important government and public programs and services. The industry’s total tax contributions increased 146% from 2017 to 2023, going from $66.2 billion to $162.7 billion — a 146% increase, according to the PwC report.
Over the 2017–2023 period, the industry generated $715.5 billion in total public revenue across all levels of government.
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