Benefits Beyond Connectivity

Washington’s data center industry is one of the largest in the nation and one of the fastest growing in the state’s economy, delivering measurable returns to communities from the Puget Sound to the Columbia Basin.

According to data from PwC, in 2024, Washington’s data center industry: 

• • Contributed nearly $33.8 billion to the state’s GDP

  • Generated an estimated $2.4 billion in state and local tax revenue
  • Provided more than $17.3 billion in labor income to hardworking Washingtonians
  • Supported more than 127,000 total jobs across the state

The data center industry supports more than 38,000 direct jobs for Washingtonians. From data center technicians and facility managers to electricians, network engineers, and cybersecurity specialists, these careers allow Washingtonians to stay and work in their own communities.

Data centers in Washington are committed to responsible and efficient water use. For example, some Washington data centers don’t use water for cooling 97% of the time, while others consume even less once operational. And many new data centers are designed to utilize reused or recycled water.

Nationally, data center water-related spending on municipal utility upgrades, on-site treatment and reuse systems is projected to exceed $4.1 billion through 2030, contributing to investments that modernize water systems for the whole country.

Data centers are highly energy-efficient facilities that help enable energy savings for homes and businesses. The industry prioritizes increasing energy efficiency, and facilities are designed to optimize energy use across their operations. Data centers are helping fund new energy projects—enough to power 8 million U.S. homes.

Data centers are essential infrastructure for future technological and environmental advancements. They support the digitization of our economy, widespread vehicle and building electrification, the onshoring of advanced manufacturing, growth in controlled environment agriculture, and other 21st-century economic drivers.

Data centers are some of the largest buyers of clean energy, contributing to our sustainability goals. Data center commitments to purchase clean energy and funding for new energy sources are helping to accelerate America’s clean energy transition.

In fact, wind and solar capacity contracted to data center providers and customers represented two-thirds of the total U.S. corporate renewables market in 2023. Additionally, many data center companies have committed to being carbon neutral and supporting their operations with 100% clean energy by 2030.