Data center jobs have doubled in Washington state since 2018
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Data center jobs in Washington have more than doubled since 2018, with over 23,000 people employed in the industry statewide as of last year, per Census Bureau data.
Why it matters: Companies, investors and governments are pouring tons of money and resources into data centers to help power AI and other next-gen tech, but there's debate over how many jobs they'll create and whether they're worth the energy required to run them.
By the numbers: Among states, Washington saw the eighth-biggest increase in data center employment between the first quarters of 2018 and 2024, notching 106% growth, per the U.S. Census Bureau's Quarterly Workforce Indicators.
- These numbers include data centers as well as web hosting and a few other related fields.
Reality check: Data center jobs still make up a small sliver of U.S. employment overall.
- The 452,000 data center jobs recorded nationwide early last year comprised less than half a percent of all U.S. private-sector jobs at that time.
Zoom in: Seattle-area companies such as Amazon and Microsoft are among those fueling the data center industry's growth.
- In Central Washington, Microsoft runs large data centers in Quincy and is adding data centers in East Wenatchee and Malaga, according to its website.
State of play: Washington lawmakers passed a tax break in 2010 encouraging data centers to locate here.
- But the centers are straining electricity resources of some public utilities throughout the state, which may complicate Washington's plans to decarbonize its electrical grid, the Seattle Times and ProPublica reported last year.
- In Seattle, which is home to several smaller data centers, the amount of power used by the industry has grown fivefold since 2016, per the Times and ProPublica.
- In 2022, data centers used at least 10% of the city's power, or enough electricity to power roughly 90,000 homes, the news organizations reported.
What we're watching: Microsoft expects to spend $80 billion in the 2025 fiscal year building data centers that can handle the demands of AI, president and vice chair Brad Smith wrote in a blog post this month.
- Amazon, meanwhile, plans to spend $150 billion on data centers over 15 years, Bloomberg reported last spring.
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to say Brad Smith is president and vice chair of Microsoft (not vice president and chair).