The biggest campuses, in the companies' own words
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| Site | Company | What was stated | Date and source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Richland Parish, LA | Meta | More than $50 billion; 7,500 construction jobs at peak; about 1,000 operational jobs | Louisiana Economic Development, July 13, 2026 |
| Pecos, TX | Microsoft | About 2 gigawatt campus; "over 6,000 construction jobs at peak build-out"; hundreds of permanent jobs | Microsoft blog, June 22, 2026 |
| Mount Pleasant, WI | Microsoft | More than 3,000 construction workers at daily peak; nearly 10,000 over two years; second building due 2028 | Microsoft, September 18, 2025; June 23, 2026 |
| Abilene, TX (Stargate I) | OpenAI and Oracle | "Thousands of jobs," including electricians, equipment operators and technicians from more than 20 states | OpenAI, July 22, 2025 |
| Shackelford County TX, Dona Ana County NM, Port Washington WI, Abilene expansion | OpenAI, Oracle | "Over 25,000 onsite jobs" across these sites; Lordstown OH and Milam County TX added with SoftBank | OpenAI, September 23, 2025 |
| Armstrong and Haskell counties, TX | $40 billion through 2027; training for more than 1,700 electrical apprentices in Texas by 2030 | Google, November 14, 2025 | |
| Salem Township and Falls Township, PA | Amazon | At least $20 billion; 1,250 high-skilled jobs; "thousands of construction jobs" | Pennsylvania governor's office, June 9, 2025 |
| St. Joseph County, IN | AWS | $11 billion; at least 1,000 jobs; campus built "over the next decade" | Indiana Economic Development Corporation, April 25, 2024 |
| Madison County, MS | AWS | $10 billion; at least 1,000 jobs; $11 billion more added April 9, 2026 | Mississippi Development Authority, January 25, 2024; governor's office, April 9, 2026 |
What the trades earn in data center metros
Hourly medians: BLS OEWS, May 2025. Meta peak counts: Meta locations page, read October 2026.
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| Metro | Electricians | Laborers | Operating engineers | Confirmed projects in the metro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. (national) | $30.38 | $22.66 | $28.78 | |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria | $36.50 | $22.80 | $29.64 | Google, Loudoun and Prince William counties (June 11, 2026); AWS $35 billion statewide by 2040 (VEDP, January 20, 2023) |
| Richmond, VA | $29.50 | $20.39 | $26.58 | Google, new Chesterfield County center in a $9 billion plan through 2026 (August 27, 2025); Meta Henrico, 1,500 at peak |
| Columbus, OH | $31.11 | $29.11 | $37.96 | Microsoft Licking County, 3 campuses, 350 construction roles a year through 2029 (June 2026); Meta New Albany, 1,200 at peak; AWS $7.8 billion in Central Ohio (JobsOhio, June 26, 2023) |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $28.37 | $21.14 | $24.70 | Meta Fort Worth, $1.5 billion or more, 1,200 at peak |
| Phoenix-Mesa | $29.43 | $22.56 | $30.07 | Meta Mesa, $1 billion or more, 2,000 at peak; Microsoft in El Mirage and Goodyear (Microsoft Local, read October 2026) |
| Atlanta | $28.20 | $20.20 | $23.77 | Meta Stanton Springs, 1,300 at peak; Microsoft Fairwater Atlanta, in operation since October 2025 (November 12, 2025) |
| San Antonio | $27.41 | $18.94 | $23.44 | Microsoft, Bexar and Medina counties, about 530 operations employees (fact sheet, October 2025) |
| Kansas City | $36.95 | $24.28 | $30.80 | Meta Kansas City, $1.2 billion or more, 1,500 at peak |
| Des Moines | $30.21 | $24.03 | $30.10 | Meta Altoona, $2.5 billion or more, 1,300 at peak; Microsoft West Des Moines, about 540 employees (fact sheet, October 2025) |
| Omaha | $30.02 | $23.22 | $28.86 | Meta Sarpy County, $2.5 billion or more, 1,300 at peak; Google, more than $15 billion in Nebraska since 2019 (datacenters.google) |
| Reno | $35.00 | $24.63 | $35.22 | Google Storey County, built 2021, part of more than $6 billion in Nevada (datacenters.google) |
| Salt Lake City | $30.11 | $22.82 | $29.69 | None confirmed inside the metro |
| Portland-Hillsboro | $50.53 | $26.08 | $38.00 | None confirmed inside the metro |
More: pay benchmarks for hourly jobs.
Which trades the projects hire
The companies name the trades:
- Microsoft, Mount Pleasant: "electricians, plumbers and pipefitters, carpenters, structural iron and steel workers, concrete workers, and Earth movers" (Microsoft, September 18, 2025).
- OpenAI, Abilene: "specialized roles for electricians, equipment operators, and technicians" (OpenAI, July 22, 2025).
- Amazon, Northern Indiana: "thousands of local electricians, construction workers, and fiber-optic technicians" (aboutamazon.com, read October 2026).
National medians, May 2025: helpers of electricians $20.51 an hour, construction laborers $22.66, structural iron and steel workers $30.18, plumbers and pipefitters $30.67 (BLS OEWS).
Union locals that run the apprenticeships
A joint committee (JATC) of an IBEW local and the NECA contractors' chapter runs each union electrical apprenticeship. Five, read on their own sites in October 2026:
- Washington, DC area: IBEW Local 26, JATC in Lanham, MD. Inside wireman apprentices do at least 8,000 hours on the job at 45 to 80 percent of the journeyman rate, $62.00 an hour as of June 1, 2026 (jatc26.org).
- Dallas-Fort Worth: IBEW Local 20, North Texas Electrical JATC in Grand Prairie. Apprentices start at $20.33 an hour plus $2.91 in insurance and retirement (ibew20.org).
- Phoenix: IBEW Local 640, Phoenix Electrical JATC. Online application, $40 fee; Inside Electrician deadline for the Fall 2027 class is March 15, 2027 (pejatc.org).
- Atlanta: IBEW Local 613, Atlanta Electrical JATC. Applications reopen May 1 to 31, 2027 (aejatc.org).
- Columbus: IBEW Local 683, Electrical Trades Center. Online application, $50 fee, aptitude test (electricaltrades.org).
Laborers train through LIUNA, which lists more than 80 training centers in the U.S. and Canada (liunatraining.org, read October 2026). Pipefitters train through United Association locals; programs "typically last five years" (ua.org, read October 2026). Details: electrician apprenticeship and HVAC apprenticeship.
How to start with no trade experience
- Laborer. No formal education is required; most learn on the job (BLS OOH, August 2026). See construction laborer: your first job and general labor entry points.
- Helper. Helpers carry materials and set up for a trade. BLS notes "an electrician's helper might earn a high school equivalency to enter an electrician apprenticeship" (BLS OOH, August 2026).
- Pre-apprenticeship. Amazon lists a paid "AWS Information Infrastructure Pre-Apprenticeship" at its Pennsylvania and Indiana campuses, ending in "a guaranteed interview with AWS or one of our contractors" (aboutamazon.com, read October 2026).
- Apprenticeship. A registered program must give at least 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning and a "progressively increasing schedule of wages" (29 CFR 29.5). Google is funding training for "more than 1,700 apprentices in Texas by 2030" (Google, November 14, 2025).
Microsoft's Datacenter Academies train for operations and IT roles, not construction (Microsoft, September 18, 2025). See also jobs that pay $20 an hour with no degree.
Current openings
See general labor jobs nationwide, or by city: Phoenix, Denver. Also warehouse jobs in Dallas and jobs with weekly pay.
More general labor openings
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