Datacenter Jobs Are Blowing Up And You Should Know Why
Right now, AI and energy projects across the U.S. are driving a massive surge in datacenter investment. That means technical roles, support staff, and infrastructure jobs are being created fast and they need people who know how to move. The average datacenter technician in the U.S. earns between $68K and $85K per year, with some reporting up to six-figure pay at companies like Google, Meta, and NVIDIA. Even entry-level techs typically see hourly pay between $26‑27/hr, with room to grow. From 2016 to 2023, U.S. datacenter employment jumped over 60%, growing from ~306,000 to ~501,000 jobs. That’s a major shift (Blue Signal Search, Census.gov) Big tech is pouring billions into infrastructure: Meta is eyeing a $10B AI campus in Louisiana with plans for 500 permanent positions plus 5,000 construction jobs. CoreWeave is investing $6B in Pennsylvania, adding 175 datacenter staff once it's live. (apnews.com) Texas is already winning in this race—with datacenter employment up 38% from 2018 to 2024, and demand increasing across construction, site ops, and technician roles. Several states—including California, New York, Florida, and Georgia—now host over 40% of all U.S. datacenter jobs.(Axios) The demand isn’t slowing: McKinsey projects U.S. AI-ready infrastructure needs to grow 33% annually through 2030. By then, 60–65% of AI workloads will require hyperscale datacenters.(McKinsey & Company) Facility operators are sounding the alarm: 51% reported trouble filling roles in 2024—especially junior IT ops and electrical techs. That means there’s opportunity with less competition for people with basic infra skills.(Network World)