New research from Georgia Tech suggests the economic benefits of data centers are real but uneven, with metropolitan counties capturing most of the gains while many rural communities see only limited improvements despite hosting billion-dollar facilities.
The study, released last week by Georgia Tech researchers Daniel Yue, assistant professor of IT management, and Yiyang Zeng, a postdoctoral fellow, analyzed how data center openings affect employment, wages, business activity and electricity prices across U.S. counties.
Our paper begins to fill that gap by providing new evidence using detailed, facility-level data paired with county-level economic outcomes," Zeng said, referring to growing community opposition and limited evidence on the local impact of data centers.
Metro Areas Capture Most Of The Benefits The researchers found counties hosting new data centers generally recorded measurable economic gains.
During the first three years after a facility opened, employment rose 0.9%, wages increased 1.1%, business establishments grew 1% and household income climbed 0.7%.
