Atlanta Now Leads the Nation in Data Center Construction
For decades, Northern Virginia has been the center of the U.S. data center industry.
It still is.
But something important just changed.
According to CBRE's latest North America data center report, Atlanta now has 2,882 megawatts of data center capacity under construction. Northern Virginia has 2,420.2 megawatts.
Atlanta's construction total increased 52.3% in one year.
For the first time, Atlanta leads the established U.S. data center markets in capacity under construction.
That does not make Atlanta the country's largest data center market. Northern Virginia still has 4,496.5 MW of existing inventory.
But if you care about where the next wave of jobs is developing, construction may be the more important number.
Construction comes before operations.
And Atlanta is building at a remarkable pace.
Data centers are moving fast. Your career intelligence should too.
DCCN tracks the markets, jobs, salaries, and skills shaping the data center workforce.
The work is already committed
There is another number in the market data that deserves attention.
About 80.4% of the data center capacity currently under construction across primary North American markets is already preleased.
In other words, most of these buildings are not being constructed with the hope that someone eventually uses them.
Customers are already under contract.
Atlanta's vacancy rate was also only 1.6% in June.
Record construction does not automatically mean permanent growth. But record construction, heavy preleasing, and low vacancy provide a much stronger signal of future demand.
For workers, the question becomes:
What kinds of jobs arrive when nearly 3,000 MW of data center capacity gets built?
Construction comes first. Operations come later.
A data center creates two different employment waves.
The first is large, temporary, and heavily dependent on skilled labor.
The second is smaller and permanent.
Georgia has unusually useful data showing the difference.
A state evaluation of Georgia's data center tax exemption attributed 8,505 construction jobs and 1,641 operations jobs to the incentive in fiscal year 2025.
That is roughly:
5 construction jobs for every 1 operations job.
Independent workforce research shows the same pattern.
Data center construction typically requires about 0.7 to 2 workers per megawatt. A typical building may average roughly 300 full-time-equivalent workers during construction and peak near 750 workers on site.
Once operational, facilities commonly employ approximately 50 to 300 permanent workers.
You can see that first wave in Atlanta today.
T5's Lithia Springs construction site reportedly has roughly 1,200 tradespeople working there each day.
This distinction matters if you are planning a career move.
If you want to work in data center construction, Atlanta's opportunity is happening now.
If you want to work in data center operations, some of the facilities being built today will create opportunities over the next several years.
But the operations workforce will be smaller.
Employers are already competing for skilled workers
The labor data may be even more important than the construction numbers.
Deloitte found that job postings for core data center roles increased 64% between 2023 and 2025.
Postings for the same roles across the broader economy increased only 4%.
Electrical technician postings increased by more than 180%.
Deloitte also found that 63% of data center executives identified skilled-labor shortages as their primary talent obstacle.
Another industry analysis projects that approximately 41% of the construction workforce could retire by 2031.
That creates a difficult equation for employers.
More facilities are being built.
Those facilities require specialized labor.
And a significant portion of the existing skilled workforce is approaching retirement.
For qualified workers, that creates leverage.
Data center work can also pay more
Skillit analyzed compensation across roughly 40 construction trades.
Workers on data center projects earned an average of approximately $81,800 per year.
Workers on other construction projects averaged approximately $62,000.
That is a 31.6% premium.
The opportunity extends beyond the trades.
Current industry salary research places national midpoints around $128,000 for construction managers, $135,000 for commissioning program managers, and $178,000 for data center operations leaders.
Compensation varies significantly by experience, specialty, and location.
That last point matters.
Northern Virginia salaries can be higher than Atlanta salaries. But Northern Virginia's cost of living is also significantly higher.
A larger paycheck does not automatically create greater purchasing power.
Compare the entire opportunity, not only the salary.
Want to compare compensation across data center roles?
You may already have the skills this industry needs
Breaking into data centers does not always require starting over.
Kelly recommends that data center employers recruit workers from three sectors in particular:
Telecommunications. Utility grid operations. Industrial HVAC.
That is revealing.
If you already work in one of those sectors, employers are being advised to look for people like you.
Other transferable backgrounds include electrical construction, mechanical systems, controls, industrial facilities, power generation, manufacturing, commissioning, and large-scale construction management.
Valuable skills include medium-voltage electrical work, switchgear and generators, chilled-water and refrigeration systems, building management systems, controls, commissioning procedures, and safety experience around energized or critical systems.
The better question may not be:
"How do I start a data center career?"
It may be:
"Which parts of my current experience already have value in a data center?"
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Here is where many job seekers make a mistake
They search AWS.
They search Google.
They search Microsoft.
They search Meta.
Then they conclude there are not many data center jobs available.
But during a construction boom, many of the jobs are not with the company whose name is associated with the facility.
They are with the companies building it.
General contractors.
Electrical contractors.
Mechanical contractors.
Commissioning firms.
Controls companies.
Engineering firms.
Equipment manufacturers.
Service providers.
If you want to enter data center construction, follow the project down the contracting chain.
Search by contractor.
Search by county.
Ask local union halls and technical colleges which contractors are staffing projects.
Find the companies supplying electrical, mechanical, cooling, and controls systems.
The logo on the building represents only one part of the employment market.
Atlanta also shows us how to find the next boom early
This may be the most useful lesson in the entire story.
In the first half of 2024, Atlanta had only 310 MW of operating data center inventory.
It ranked eighth among the primary U.S. markets.
But Atlanta already had 1,289.1 MW under construction.
It was the only primary market building more capacity than it already had operating.
The signal was there.
By the end of 2025, Atlanta's operating inventory had climbed to 1,459.2 MW.
Now Atlanta leads established U.S. markets in construction.
The lesson is not that everyone should move to Atlanta.
The lesson is that construction data can function as an early job-market indicator.
Look for markets with large amounts of capacity under construction, especially when construction is large compared with existing inventory.
Current industry reports are already pointing toward markets in West Texas, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, the Carolinas, Reno, and Columbus.
Within Georgia, development is also moving beyond metro Atlanta into Statesboro, Metter, and Effingham County.
The next major data center career market may be visible before most people think of it as a data center market.
But do not relocate for an announcement
There is risk.
Data center development is facing increasing scrutiny over electricity demand, water use, land use, tax incentives, and effects on local communities.
That debate is particularly active in Georgia.
Savannah recently approved a 155-day moratorium covering certain large data center projects. Roughly 40 Georgia municipalities have implemented some form of pause.
That creates a practical career lesson:
Do not relocate for a proposed project.
Before making a major career move, determine whether the project has its approvals, power commitments, contractors, and an actual construction schedule.
There is a major difference between a proposed data center and one where 1,200 tradespeople are already reporting to work.
What should you do now?
If you work in electrical, HVAC, refrigeration, controls, utilities, construction management, commissioning, engineering, or another skilled infrastructure field:
1. Follow construction, not only job postings.
Construction can show where labor demand is developing before the operations jobs arrive.
2. Apply to contractors, not only operators.
A large portion of the workforce needed during a data center boom sits outside the company whose name is on the building.
3. Identify the credential that actually changes your opportunities.
A state electrical license, EPA 608 certification, NCCER credentials, OSHA 30, commissioning experience, or project management credentials may carry more weight than a quick introductory certificate.
4. Compare opportunities based on purchasing power.
A higher salary in a more expensive market is not automatically a better financial move.
5. Verify the project before you move for it.
Announcements are not construction sites.
The DCCN takeaway
Atlanta did not suddenly become a major data center construction market.
The build pipeline was visible years ago.
That is the kind of signal Data Center Career Network is built to track.
Not simply:
Where are the data center jobs today?
But:
Where is the industry going, which skills will it need when it gets there, and how can you position yourself before everyone else sees the opportunity?
Atlanta is the current answer.
It will not be the last one.
Hiring data center talent?
DCCN wants to hear from employers, recruiters, contractors, and hiring managers too.
Tell us which roles are hardest to fill, which skills you need, and where you expect demand to grow.
Know someone who should be working in this industry?
Forward them this issue.
Especially if they work in electrical, HVAC, utilities, controls, construction, commissioning, engineering, or critical facilities.
They may be closer to a data center career than they realize.