Benefits Beyond Connectivity

Pennsylvania’s data center industry is helping grow the state’s economy and creating thousands of good-paying jobs. The data center industry also makes significant tax contributions at the state and local levels that help support education, transportation, public safety, and more. 

In 2023 alone, Pennsylvania’s data center industry was responsible for: 

• Creating more than 18,000 direct jobs and supporting more than 99,000 jobs in total across Pennsylvania 
• Generating $1.36 billion in state and local tax revenue 
• Contributing $14.4 billion to the state’s GDP

Currently proposed data center projects could double a township’s operating budget and expand public services without raising taxes on Pennsylvanians. 

Data centers involve huge financial investments in buildings and equipment, with many individual projects exceeding $1 billion in capital investment – investment, revenue, and wages that flow to Pennsylvania businesses and workers each time a new data center is built and becomes operational.

The data center industry provides employment opportunities for individuals across a broad range of educational backgrounds; many high-wage jobs in the industry don’t require a traditional four-year degree. These career opportunities can be attractive to residents who wish to stay and work in their own community, which helps strengthen the talent pool in the local economy and form the foundation of a local “tech hub,” providing the expertise needed to support the growth of digital businesses in the local economy.

Every job in a data center supports more than six additional jobs elsewhere in the economy. In 2023, Pennsylvania’s data centers directly employed more than 18,000 people, and helped support more than 99,000 total jobs–jobs that generated over $8.3 billion in labor income.

Keeping data centers on American soil is critical to our national security. In addition to securing our sensitive information in the United States, data centers also provide the digital infrastructure that ensures U.S. competitiveness in artificial intelligence and other cutting edge technologies that are essential to our economic competitiveness and national security.

Data centers are critical infrastructure enabling America’s technological and environmental future. They support the digitization of our economy, widespread vehicle and building electrification, the onshoring of advanced manufacturing, growth in controlled environment agriculture, and other 21st-century economic drivers.

Data centers are highly energy-efficient facilities that help enable energy savings for homes and businesses. The industry prioritizes energy efficiency in its operations from day one.

The benefits of data centers go beyond the buildings, providing services and opportunities for the communities where they are located.

Data center operators, their employees, and their tenants are committed to giving back to the communities where their teams live and work.

Many data center owners and operators have developed programs within their communities to support academic achievement, grow the data center workforce, and strengthen digital infrastructure. Companies that own, operate, and manage data centers also donate money, contribute time and talent, and engage in community service. 

Data centers also benefit local schools and educational institutions in their communities by supporting STEM education in K-12 schools, funding internships and scholarships, and contributing to new fields of higher education.