Data Center Electrician Pay, Jobs and Where the Work Is Growing

Data center electrician pay follows the electrical contractor wage

Federal wage data cannot isolate electricians working on data center jobs, because the employer, not the job site, sets the industry code. Most of these electricians work for electrical contractors, so the contractor wage is the closest official benchmark; the small group on data processing payrolls earned more when BLS last published it.

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey assigns each worker to the industry of the employer. An electrician wiring a hyperscale data hall for an electrical contractor is counted in NAICS 238210, not in NAICS 518200, the industry of the data center operator. In May 2025, electrical contractors employed 541,390 electricians, 71.5% of the 757,220 wage and salary electricians in the U.S. (BLS OEWS industry file).

Electricians at electrical contractors earned a median of $61,570 in May 2025, 2.6% below the all-industry electrician median of $63,190. The 90th percentile at electrical contractors was $108,780 (BLS OEWS). Base wages are only part of data center pay: the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook notes that overtime is common for electricians (BLS OOH), and OEWS wages are straight-time pay that exclude overtime pay and shift differentials (BLS OEWS technical notes).

For the small group employed directly by data processing and hosting firms, the latest published median was $77,630 in May 2023, 26.0% above the all-electrician median of $61,590 that year. The May 2025 file shows the construction and extraction group at those firms with a mean of $84,670, 18.4% above the all-electrician mean, and a median of $70,100 (BLS OEWS May 2023, May 2025).

NAICS 518200 and 518210: Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services. BLS describes the group as establishments that provide the infrastructure for hosting and/or data processing services (BLS Industries at a Glance). OEWS publishes it at the 4-digit level (518200); QCEW publishes the 6-digit industry (518210).

State pay differs more than industry pay. Among the five states with the most data processing and hosting jobs, the electrician median in May 2025 was $78,750 in New York and $76,160 in California, above the U.S. median of $63,190, and $58,570 in Texas, $58,320 in Georgia and $57,250 in Florida, below it (BLS OEWS state file). Full state medians are on the electrician salary by state page; union inside wireman rates are in the IBEW pay scale report.

Data center construction spending reached a $96.5 billion annual rate

The Census Bureau data center series is the only official national measure of how much data center building work is underway. It has grown every calendar year since it began in January 2014 and roughly quadrupled in three years.

Census counts as a data center any building that contains the hardware needed for storing, processing and transmitting digital information; the servers and racks themselves are excluded as equipment, while the building and its mechanical and electrical installations, including emergency backup power, count as construction (Census definitions).

In the 12 months from October 2025 to September 2026, private data center construction spending totaled $67.6 billion, 3.87 times the $17.5 billion of October 2022 to September 2023 (Census monthly series). The seasonally adjusted annual rate for September 2026 was $96.5 billion, up 90.3% from $50.7 billion in September 2025 (Census SAAR series).

Data centers took 8.9% of private nonresidential construction spending in the latest 12 months, against 2.4% three years earlier. Total U.S. construction spending was $2,186.1 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate in September 2026 (Census release of November 2, 2026). Figures are in current dollars and are not adjusted for construction cost inflation.

Washington, Virginia and Georgia have the highest data processing job concentration

No federal series counts data center construction by state. QCEW employment in NAICS 518210 shows where hosting and data processing firms employ staff, which is a partial guide to where facilities operate; it also includes software and cloud staff in headquarters states.

NAICS 518210 private employment was 483,954 in 2025, or 3.63 jobs per 1,000 private jobs (BLS QCEW 2025). California led on count with 81,824 jobs, but its average annual pay of $327,171 points to headquarters and engineering staff rather than facility crews. Measured per 1,000 private jobs, Washington (7.76), Virginia (5.92), Georgia (5.85) and Missouri (5.81) rank highest.

Four states, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming, had 518210 employment withheld because state data are published only if disclosure restrictions are met (BLS QCEW overview). Colorado shows a 14.3% decline from 2021 to 2025, but QCEW suspended Colorado industry data from November 2024 to February 2025 over data quality concerns, so that change should be read with caution (BLS OEWS technical notes).

Few electricians work for data center operators; contractor payrolls grew 15.9%

Data center operators employ very few electricians directly. The jobs show up at electrical contractors, whose employment grew faster than the industry base would suggest, but not fastest in the states with the most hosting jobs.

BLS estimated 90 electricians at NAICS 518200 firms in May 2023 and 100 in May 2024, out of 482,080 and 484,990 total jobs in the industry. That is 0.013% of all electricians in May 2023. Installation, maintenance and repair occupations at the same firms numbered 2,370 in May 2025, including 1,210 general maintenance and repair workers (BLS OEWS). Facility technician roles advertised as data center electrician jobs may be coded to those occupations.

Electrical contractor (NAICS 23821) private employment, all occupations, rose 15.9% from 968,864 in 2021 to 1,123,060 in 2025 (BLS QCEW). Among the top 10 data processing states, Texas (27.1%), Virginia (26.7%) and Georgia (23.8%) grew fastest, while New York (1.2%) and California (4.1%) grew least. The top 10 combined grew 13.3%, below the 18.5% in the remaining states, so the data do not show contractor hiring concentrated in the states with the largest hosting payrolls.

National electrician demand and openings are covered in the electrician shortage report; establishment counts are in electrical contractor counts by state.

Credentials the work asks for: license, apprenticeship, OSHA training and NFPA 70E

Public sources set a common floor for data center electrical work: a state license, an apprenticeship path, OSHA-required safety training and the NFPA 70E workplace safety standard that employers use for energized-work programs.

• Licensing: most states require electricians to be licensed, and most electricians learn through an apprenticeship (BLS OOH). State requirements are in the electrical license lookup; training routes are in how to become an electrician and electrician apprenticeship data.
• OSHA training: 29 CFR 1910.332 requires employees to be trained in the safety-related work practices that pertain to their job assignments (OSHA 1910.332).
• Deenergized work as the default: 29 CFR 1910.333 requires live parts to be deenergized before work unless the employer can show that deenergizing adds hazards or is infeasible (OSHA 1910.333). On construction sites, 29 CFR 1926.416 requires protection by deenergizing and grounding or by guarding (OSHA 1926.416).
• NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace: the current edition is 2027 and the next is scheduled for 2030 (NFPA).
• Joint union and contractor training: the electrical training ALLIANCE is the training body of the IBEW and NECA and delivers apprenticeship through local JATC training centers (electrical training ALLIANCE). BLS notes that some electricians start out at a technical school (BLS OOH).

Project labor agreements appear in Illinois law and in few county records

Most data center labor terms are private contracts. The public record checked for this report contains one statewide project labor agreement requirement, in Illinois, while three county agreements from Kentucky, Arizona and South Carolina name no project labor agreement.

The Illinois Data Center Investment Program requires a qualifying data center owner or operator to require its contractor to enter into a project labor agreement approved by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Through 2025-12-31 the program had 34 approved projects, $10,665,815,092 in investment commitments, an average of $313.7 million per project, and 731 committed jobs; 7 agreements were signed in 2025. The report states that the program pause took effect July 1, 2026 (Illinois DCEO 2025 annual report).

County records show the construction labor scale that local governments are told to expect. Pima County's binding memorandum of agreement for Project Blue cites 3,000-plus direct construction jobs against 180 permanent jobs, 16.7 construction jobs per permanent job. Mason County's summary estimates up to 4,000 workers at peak against 400 full-time jobs at full build-out. Neither record names a project labor agreement. Union statements about agreements on specific projects were not counted because they are not state or county records.

What the numbers mean for electrical contractors

Construction spending on data centers is rising much faster than either contractor employment or the official count of electricians at data center operators, which points to longer hours and travel rather than a separate, measurable data center workforce.

Data center construction spending in the latest 12 months was 3.87 times its level three years earlier, while electrical contractor employment grew 15.9% from 2021 to 2025. The IBEW's own publication states that between 45% and 70% of a data center construction budget goes to the electrical subcontractor (The Electrical Worker, archived); that range is a union estimate and has not been verified against cost data.

For bidding and staffing, the official benchmark wage is the electrical contractor median of $61,570 in May 2025 and the state median where the job sits. Equipment lead times also shape schedules: see the transformer shortage report. Electricity demand behind the build-out is covered in the data center power consumption report.

How we ranked the states

Get the calculations (CSV)

State by state

1. U.S. private data center construction spending totaled $67.6 billion from October 2025 to September 2026, compared with $17.5 billion from October 2022 to September 2023, a 287.3% increase (Census, not seasonally adjusted).^[16]
2. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of private data center construction was $96.5 billion in September 2026, compared with $21.3 billion in September 2023 and $1.6 billion in January 2014, the first month of the series (Census).^[17]
3. Data center construction spending for January to September 2026 was $54.2 billion, 49.1% above the $36.4 billion spent in January to September 2025 (Census).^[16]
4. Calendar 2025 data center construction spending of $49.7 billion was 27.7 times the 2014 total of $1.8 billion, in current dollars (Census).^[16]
5. In September 2026, data centers accounted for 12.2% of the seasonally adjusted annual rate of U.S. private nonresidential construction (derived from Census).^[17]
6. BLS estimated 100 electricians employed by NAICS 518200 computing infrastructure, data processing and web hosting firms in May 2024 and 90 in May 2023; the May 2025 release published no estimate for that cell.^[4][5][1]
7. Electricians at NAICS 518200 firms earned a median of $77,630 and a mean of $73,550 in May 2023, the latest year BLS published those wages.^[5]
8. In May 2025, the construction and extraction occupation group at NAICS 518200 firms had a mean wage of $84,670 and a median of $70,100, while employment for the group was not released (BLS OEWS).^[1]
9. Electricians at electrical contractors (NAICS 238210) earned a median of $61,570 and a mean of $69,990 in May 2025, with a 10th to 90th percentile range of $39,560 to $108,780 (BLS OEWS).^[1]
10. NAICS 518210 data processing and hosting firms employed 483,954 private workers in 2025, up 24.5% from 388,805 in 2021 (BLS QCEW).^[9][10]
11. California (81,824), Texas (48,266), New York (28,710), Florida (28,540) and Georgia (24,620) had the most NAICS 518210 private jobs in 2025; the top 10 states held 62.6% of the national total (BLS QCEW).^[9]
12. Washington had the highest concentration of NAICS 518210 jobs in 2025, 7.76 per 1,000 private jobs, against 3.63 nationally (derived from BLS QCEW).^[9][13]
13. Electrical contractor (NAICS 23821) private employment rose from 968,864 in 2021 to 1,123,060 in 2025, a 15.9% increase (BLS QCEW).^[11][12]
14. In the top 10 data processing states combined, electrical contractor employment grew 13.3% from 2021 to 2025, slower than the 18.5% in the other 41 states and DC (derived from BLS QCEW).^[9][11][12]
15. The Illinois Data Center Investment Program reported 34 approved projects with $10,665,815,092 in investment commitments through 2025-12-31, each subject to a state-approved project labor agreement requirement.^[30]

In short

• Private data center construction spending in the U.S. ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $96.5 billion in September 2026, up 90.3% from September 2025 (Census).
• Data centers took 8.9% of private nonresidential construction spending in the 12 months to September 2026, up from 2.4% in the same months of 2022 to 2023 (derived from Census).
• Data processing and hosting firms (NAICS 518200) employed about 100 electricians in May 2024, and BLS published no electrician estimate for the industry in May 2025.
• Electrical contractors (NAICS 238210) employed 541,390 electricians in May 2025, 71.5% of all wage and salary electricians, at a median wage of $61,570 (BLS OEWS).
• The last published median wage for electricians on data processing payrolls was $77,630 in May 2023, 26.0% above the all-electrician median of $61,590 that year.
• Electrical contractor employment grew 15.9% nationally from 2021 to 2025, and 27.1% in Texas, 26.7% in Virginia and 23.8% in Georgia (BLS QCEW).
• Illinois requires a project labor agreement approved by the state commerce department for data centers in its tax incentive program, which had 34 approved projects through 2025.

Common questions

Keep reading

• Electrician salary by state
• How to become an electrician
• Electrician shortage
• Data center power consumption in the US: official estimates, state sales and grid forecasts
• Electric car fires: official rates per vehicle, fire recalls and the lithium-ion battery problem
• Electrical contractor acquisitions: a sourced ledger of 32 US deals, 2024 to 2026
• All electrical contractor data

How we built this report

Source selection: the report uses federal statistical series that publish industry and occupation detail: BLS OEWS national industry, national and state files for May 2023, May 2024 and May 2025; BLS QCEW open data annual averages for 2021 and 2025 and the first quarter of 2026; and the Census Bureau Value of Construction Put in Place monthly time series (release of 2026-11-02). Each file was downloaded unmodified and the extracts used are saved with the report.

Inclusion and exclusion: job board, staffing firm and recruiter salary pages were not used as data. Union statements are cited only as attributed statements. Project labor agreements were counted only when named in a state or county record; agreements reported by unions or the press without a public government record were excluded.

Industry codes: OEWS publishes data processing and hosting at the 4-digit NAICS level (518200) and QCEW at the 6-digit level (518210). Comparisons from 2021 to 2025 assume the industry definition is stable across years. Electrical contractors are NAICS 238210 in OEWS and 23821 in QCEW, which are the same industry.

Conflicts and gaps: BLS published an electrician estimate for NAICS 518200 in May 2023 and May 2024 but not in May 2025, so the report shows the latest published value with its year rather than estimating. Where OEWS marks a cell * or **, the report states that it is not available.

Derived metrics: 12-month construction totals sum not seasonally adjusted monthly values; growth rates and shares are simple ratios; per 1,000 jobs divides state 518210 private employment by state all-industry private employment. Every formula, input row and result is in derived_metrics.csv and the scripts folder.

Limitations: no federal source counts electricians by job site, so data center electricians cannot be counted directly. NAICS 518210 state employment includes software and cloud staff and is only a partial guide to where data centers operate. Census construction data are national and in current dollars. OEWS wages exclude overtime pay and shift differentials, and OEWS excludes the self-employed.

Last updated 2026-11-05. Census construction spending is next released on 2026-12-01; OEWS May 2026 estimates and QCEW 2026 data follow BLS schedules.

This report presents published data with its limitations. It is not legal, financial or investment advice.

Sources by tier

Tier 1: primary and official sources (29)

• [1] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national industry-specific estimates (oesm25in4). May 2025 (released 2026-05-15). Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [2] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, national cross-industry estimates (oesm25nat). May 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [3] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, state estimates (oesm25st). May 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [4] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024, national industry-specific estimates (oesm24in4). May 2024. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [5] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2023, national industry-specific estimates (oesm23in4). May 2023. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [6] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023: 47-2111 Electricians. May 2023. Accessed 2026-11-05.
• [7] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wages Summary, May 2025 (USDL-26-0725). Released 2026-05-15. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [8] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook: Electricians. Pay May 2025; jobs 2025. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [9] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. QCEW open data, 2025 annual averages, NAICS 518210. 2025 annual average (preliminary). Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [10] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. QCEW open data, 2021 annual averages, NAICS 518210. 2021 annual average. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [11] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. QCEW open data, 2025 annual averages, NAICS 23821. 2025 annual average (preliminary). Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [12] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. QCEW open data, 2021 annual averages, NAICS 23821. 2021 annual average. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [13] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. QCEW open data, 2025 annual averages, all industries (industry 10). 2025 annual average (preliminary). Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [14] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. QCEW open data, first quarter 2026, NAICS 518210. January to March 2026. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [15] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Schedule of news releases and full data availability for County Employment and Wages (QCEW). 2025 and 2026 schedules. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [16] U.S. Census Bureau. Value of Private Construction Put in Place, not seasonally adjusted, monthly time series (privtime.xlsx). January 2014 to September 2026. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [17] U.S. Census Bureau. Value of Private Construction Put in Place, seasonally adjusted annual rate, monthly time series (privsatime.xlsx). January 2014 to September 2026. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [18] U.S. Census Bureau. Monthly Construction Spending, September 2026 (CB26-176). Released 2026-11-02. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [19] U.S. Census Bureau. Construction Spending: definitions of construction types. Current. Accessed 2026-11-05.
• [20] U.S. Census Bureau. 2026 Economic Indicator Calendar (list view). 2026 schedule. Accessed 2026-11-05.
• [21] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Industries at a Glance: Data Processing, Hosting, and Related Services, NAICS 518. Current. Accessed 2026-11-05.
• [22] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. OEWS technical notes. Technical notes, May 2024 estimates page. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [23] Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.332, Training (electrical safety-related work practices). Current regulation. Accessed 2026-11-05.
• [24] Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1910.333, Selection and use of work practices. Current regulation. Accessed 2026-11-05.
• [25] Occupational Safety and Health Administration. 29 CFR 1926.416, General requirements (construction, Subpart K Electrical). Current regulation. Accessed 2026-11-05.
• [26] Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Electrical: overview. Current. Accessed 2026-11-05.
• [27] U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. QCEW Overview. Current. Accessed 2026-11-03.
• [30] Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. Data Center Investment Program, 2025 Annual Report. Program inception to 2025-12-31. Accessed 2026-11-05.
• [31] Mason County, Kentucky. Summary: Development and Community Revenue Agreement, Mason County Fiscal Court meeting. Summary dated 2026-10-06. Accessed 2026-11-05.

Tier 2: trade bodies, market research, company data (4)

• [28] National Fire Protection Association. NFPA 70E standard development page (Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace). Current edition 2027. Accessed 2026-11-05.
• [29] electrical training ALLIANCE (IBEW and NECA). electrical training ALLIANCE home page. Current. Accessed 2026-11-05.
• [32] Pima County, Arizona (document copy). Pima County Board of Supervisors addendum item and Binding Memorandum of Agreement, Project Blue (copy hosted by the Federation of American Scientists). Board meeting 2025-12-16. Accessed 2026-11-05.
• [33] Spartanburg County, South Carolina (document copy). Draft ordinance and development agreement, Valara high-performance computing center (copy hosted by WSPA). 2026 draft. Accessed 2026-11-05.

Tier 3: journalism and expert commentary (1)

• [34] International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The Data Center Surge: A New Generation of IBEW Jobs, The Electrical Worker (Internet Archive snapshot of 2026-11-02). Article dated 2025-05-01. Accessed 2026-11-05.