Brief · Jobs vs power
Data centers use a lot of electricity. Official industry jobs are modest, and mostly not the trades.
U.S. data centers used about 4.7% of all U.S. electricity in 2024 (192 TWh, per Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), but the official job counts for the data center industry are fairly small, and most of those jobs are office and computer roles, not trades.
When a project comes to your town, power use and job promises often get mixed together. The electricians, HVAC techs and pipefitters who build and maintain these sites mostly work for contractors, so they do not show up in the industry job count. Both the power demand and the trades work are real, just counted in different places.
The industry payroll that includes data centers is about 450–480 thousand jobs nationally, roughly 41% computer roles and 17% management. Government tables do not publish separate trades counts for this industry, and we do not invent them. Sources and technical names are in the glossary and data table below.
What DataCenterSkilledTrades says this means
Our plain-English read for three audiences. Cite the agency source, and this page as the compilation.
- Contractors (GC / trade contractors): Big power headlines are not the same as big NAICS 518 trade headcounts. Your electricians, HVAC/R, pipe, and fiber crews usually sit on contractor payroll outside those tables. Map who owns which system on facility systems, gate hire certs with the cert checker, and use the NFPA 70E checklist for critical power.
- Hiring ops (operators / employers): Do not hire facility trades off a hosting-industry job title. Hire for the system being built: UPS, CRAH units, cooling loops or fiber. Each one calls for a different trade and different training. EPA 608 is required by law for refrigerant work; NFPA 70E is a common plus for critical power. Then check /roles/.
- Local gov / HOAs: When a proposal pairs electricity load with job claims, use the dated LBNL / EIA / BLS figures on this page. Ask which NAICS the jobs sit in, and do not invent FTE-per-MW or gallons from this brief.
Tiny glossary
- LBNL
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Published the 2025 Update that puts 2024 U.S. data-center electricity at 192 TWh / 4.7%, the main power cite on this page.
- EIA
- U.S. Energy Information Administration. Publishes the commercial-sector electricity shares cited here (servers ~7% in 2025; computing ~8% in 2024).
- CES
- Current Employment Statistics (BLS). Monthly payroll survey behind the NAICS 518 employment series (CES5051800001) shown below.
- OEWS
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (BLS). Industry×occupation table for NAICS 518200, the mix that is IT/management-heavy, and where construction employment is suppressed and several trade rows are missing.
- NAICS 518
- North American Industry Classification System code for Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services, the industry code people often treat as “data center jobs.”
Audience 1
DC general & trade contractorsBid/staffing narratives when power headlines outrun NAICS 518 job tables.
Audience 2
Operators hiring facility tradesHire-gating certs and who owns which system, not a 518 job title.
Audience 3
Local governments & HOAsHow to use dated LBNL/EIA/BLS figures when reviewing proposals, and what not to invent.
Power: our read of the official electricity figures
DataCenterSkilledTrades keeps three published numbers journalists already mix up: with denominators straight. Agency reports are the footnotes.
- 192 TWh / 4.7% of total U.S. electricity (2024): Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, United States Data Center Energy Usage Report: 2025 Update (Smith et al., published 2026-06-18, LBNL-2001758). Bottom-up model covering servers, storage, network, and infrastructure; excludes cryptocurrency mining. OSTI biblio 3374245 · doi:10.71468/P1RP4F · retrieved 2026-11-05.
- Servers alone ≈ 7% of commercial-sector electricity (2025): EIA Today in Energy, released 2026-05-19. Commercial sector denominator, not total U.S.
- Computing ≈ 8% of commercial-sector electricity (2024): EIA Today in Energy, released 2025-06-25. Broader end-use (servers + desktop/laptop + monitors). Do not swap this with the 7% servers-only figure.
Jobs inside NAICS 518 / 518200
Our read: official industry employment is real: and IT/management-heavy.
- CES NAICS 518 (BLS series CES5051800001): 480.9k (Dec 2024), 472.9k (Dec 2025), 453.8k preliminary (Sep 2026). Seasonally adjusted, thousands of employees.
- OEWS May 2025 NAICS 518200 all occupations: 485,550 employed; annual median wage $107,510 (oesm25in4.zip nat4d, retrieved 2026-11-05).
- Mix: Computer and Mathematical (15-0000) 200,900: 41.4%. Management (11-0000) 80,170: 16.5%, of which Facilities Managers (11-3013) = 520 (0.1%). Installation, Maintenance, and Repair (49-0000) 2,370: 0.5%.
NAICS 518 counts mostly IT and hosting staff. That is why it shows few trade jobs.
Jobs not counted here: construction & facility trades
DataCenterSkilledTrades caveat that keeps bid narratives and city staff honest.
- Construction and Extraction (47-0000) employment in OEWS 518200 is suppressed (**). Some wage cells still publish without a usable headcount. Do not back into an FTE number from a suppressed cell.
- Electricians (47-2111), HVAC/R mechanics (49-9021), lineworkers (49-9051), and pipefitters (47-2152) have no published OEWS May 2025 rows for NAICS 518200 in the national industry file we checked. Refusing a fake 518200 trade wage is the correct move.
- Build and critical-facility work is typically coded under construction, utilities, or specialty-trade contractor NAICS: employees of GCs and trade contractors, not the hosting operator’s 518 payroll.
- Economy-wide BLS openings (EP 2025–35): electricians ~72.7k/yr, HVAC/R ~40.6k, pipefitters/plumbers ~42k, lineworkers ~10.9k: measure national trade demand, not data-center headcount. See /roles/.
For DC general contractors & trade contractors
What this power-vs-jobs framing means for bid and staffing narratives.
When a proposal leans on electricity growth, reviewers will look for matching job claims. NAICS 518 / 518200 will not carry your electrician, HVAC/R, pipefitter, or fiber crews. Say that out loud:
- Separate load (LBNL/EIA) from operator payroll (CES/OEWS 518) from contractor staffing (your trade headcount under construction / specialty-trade codes).
- Staff the narrative by system ownership: UPS/switchgear/generators, CRAH/chillers, water loops, fiber: not by a hosting NAICS title. Map: facility systems failure guide.
- Put hire-gating certs next to the crew list: cert checker. Critical-power path: NFPA 70E UPS/switchgear checklist.
- Do not cite suppressed OEWS 518200 construction employment as a staffing proof point.
For operators & companies hiring facility trades
Hire-gating certs and who owns which system.
A NAICS 518 job title will not tell you who resets a CRAH or racks a fiber splice. Hire against the failure mode:
- Power (UPS, generators, switchgear) → licensed electrician; NFPA 70E-aligned training expected: checklist · cert checker.
- Cooling (CRAH, chillers, refrigerants) → HVAC/R with EPA Section 608 where the work can release regulated refrigerants. Facility water / glycol / CDU primary loops → pipefitter; OEM specialty on top: liquid cooling guide.
- Water loops → pipefitter; fiber / low-voltage → limited-energy / BICSI pathway (OR LEA / WA 06 where those licenses apply).
Role pay and outlook (all-industry, labeled as such): /roles/. System map: /facility-systems/.
For local governments & HOAs
How to use these dated figures when reviewing proposals, and what not to invent.
- Use: LBNL 192 TWh / 4.7% (2024, report 2026-06-18); EIA servers ~7% of commercial (2025 article); EIA computing ~8% of commercial (2024 article); CES 518 employment with month/year; OEWS 518200 mix and the suppression/absence note for trades.
- Ask: Which NAICS do the job claims sit in? Are trades employees of the operator or of construction/specialty contractors outside 518?
- Do not invent from this brief: FTE-per-MW, campus trade headcounts, water gallons, campus MW, or retail rate impacts. Those need their own primary sources. Water: water brief. Grid load / rates / capacity: grid-load brief.
- Cite the printable table below (Dataset JSON-LD on this URL) so staff and reporters share one dated pack.
Citable figures (DataCenterSkilledTrades Dataset)
Cite this Dataset: Data centers: electricity use vs NAICS 518 employment (LBNL, EIA, BLS): as a DataCenterSkilledTrades compilation. One table. Value + date + source for every row. Machine-readable Dataset JSON-LD in page source; agency reports live under Sources / isBasedOn.
| Metric | Value | Context | Date & source |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. data-center electricity use (2024) Bottom-up model; excludes cryptocurrency mining. Printed report p. 8; PDF retrieved 2026-11-05. | 192 TWh | 4.7% of total U.S. electricity consumption | 2024 (report published 2026-06-18) LBNL United States Data Center Energy Usage Report: 2025 Upd… · alt |
| Data-center servers share of commercial electricity (2025) Narrower than 'computing'. Not comparable 1:1 to LBNL's all-in DC share of total U.S. electricity. | 7% | Servers alone, commercial sector; EIA Today in Energy | 2025 (article released 2026-05-19) EIA Today in Energy, detail id=67704 |
| Commercial computing share of commercial electricity (2024) Broader end-use than servers-only. Shown so readers do not mix 7% and 8% as the same claim. | 8% | Broader: data-center servers + desktops/laptops + monitors | 2024 (article released 2025-06-25) EIA Today in Energy, detail id=65564 |
| CES employment, NAICS 518 (thousands) Seasonally adjusted, all employees, thousands. | 480.9 | Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services | December 2024 BLS Current Employment Statistics, series CES5051800001 |
| CES employment, NAICS 518 (thousands) | 472.9 | Same series | December 2025 BLS CES CES5051800001 |
| CES employment, NAICS 518 (thousands) Preliminary. Official industry employment for NAICS 518 is modest relative to power headlines: and mostly not facility trades. | 453.8 (P) | Same series; preliminary | September 2026 (preliminary) BLS CES CES5051800001 |
| OEWS employment, NAICS 518200 (Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services) Released 2026-05-15 (USDL-26-0725 context). Annual median wage all occupations $107,510. | 485,550 | All occupations; national industry estimate | May 2025 BLS OEWS May 2025 industry-specific estimates (oesm25in4.zip… · alt |
| Share of OEWS 518200 employment in Computer and Mathematical Occupations (15-0000) | 200,900 (41.4%) | IT/software-heavy mix inside the industry code people cite for 'data center jobs' | May 2025 BLS OEWS May 2025 nat4d, NAICS 518200 |
| Share of OEWS 518200 employment in Management Occupations (11-0000) | 80,170 (16.5%) | Includes Facilities Managers 11-3013: 520 employed (0.1%) | May 2025 BLS OEWS May 2025 nat4d, NAICS 518200 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations (49-0000) inside OEWS 518200 Electricians (47-2111), HVAC/R (49-9021), lineworkers (49-9051), and pipefitters (47-2152) have no published OEWS wage/employment rows for NAICS 518200 in this file. | 2,370 (0.5%) | Largest published detail: Maintenance and Repair Workers, General (49-9071) = 1,210 | May 2025 BLS OEWS May 2025 nat4d, NAICS 518200 |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations (47-0000) employment inside OEWS 518200 Do not invent a construction FTE count for NAICS 518200 from suppressed cells. | ** (suppressed) | BLS withholds employment; some wage cells still publish (median $70,100) without a usable headcount | May 2025 BLS OEWS May 2025 nat4d, NAICS 518200 |
| BLS Employment Projections annual openings (economy-wide, NOT data-center jobs) Label these as economy-wide trade demand. They are not NAICS 518 'data center job' counts. | Electricians ~72.7k; HVAC/R ~40.6k; pipefitters/plumbers ~42k; lineworkers ~10.9k per year | National openings across all industries for 2025–35 | EP 2025–35 (USDL-26-1422, released 2026-08-27) BLS Employment Projections; also tabulated on /roles/ · alt |
License for this compiled table: CC BY 4.0. Underlying BLS series follow BLS copyright policy. LBNL report: CC BY 4.0 via DOI.
FAQ
Do data centers use a lot of electricity?
Yes, on official estimates. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s 2025 Update puts 2024 U.S. data-center electricity use at 192 TWh, or 4.7% of total U.S. electricity (Smith et al. 2026, LBNL-2001758). EIA’s Today in Energy separately reports that data-center servers alone were about 7% of commercial-sector electricity in 2025 (released 2026-05-19). Those are different denominators: total U.S. vs commercial sector: so do not treat 4.7% and 7% as the same claim.
How many people does the official ‘data processing / hosting’ industry employ?
BLS Current Employment Statistics for NAICS 518 (series CES5051800001) shows 480.9 thousand employees in December 2024, 472.9 thousand in December 2025, and 453.8 thousand (preliminary) in September 2026. OEWS May 2025 for the 4-digit NAICS 518200 puts all-occupation employment at 485,550. Those are industry payroll counts, not campus headcounts and not trade staffing plans.
Are electricians, HVAC techs, lineworkers, and pipefitters inside those NAICS 518 tables?
Mostly no in the published detail. OEWS May 2025 for NAICS 518200 is IT- and management-heavy: Computer and Mathematical occupations are 200,900 (41.4%); Management 80,170 (16.5%); Installation/Maintenance/Repair only 2,370 (0.5%). Construction and Extraction employment is suppressed (**). Electricians (47-2111), HVAC/R (49-9021), lineworkers (49-9051), and pipefitters (47-2152) have no published OEWS rows for 518200 in the May 2025 nat4d file. Construction and facility trades on a build or critical-facility contract are usually coded under construction, utilities, or specialty-trade NAICS: not 518.
Can I quote a data-center electrician or HVAC wage from NAICS 518200?
Not from OEWS May 2025 industry estimates: those SOC rows are absent for 518200. Saying otherwise invents a number BLS did not publish. Use national (all-industry) OEWS wages on /roles/ when you need a trade wage, and say plainly they are not data-center-specific.
What should local governments or HOAs use when a proposal claims jobs-per-megawatt?
Use the dated LBNL electricity figure, the EIA commercial shares, and the BLS CES/OEWS employment mix above: with links and dates. Do not invent FTE-per-MW, campus trade headcounts, or water gallons from this brief. Those belong in separate, sourced kits when they exist. Ask proposers which NAICS their job claims sit in, and whether trades are contractor employees outside 518.
What should GCs and trade contractors say in a bid narrative?
Separate power load (LBNL/EIA) from NAICS 518 payroll. Staffing for UPS, switchgear, CRAH/chillers, water loops, and fiber is usually outside the 518 occupation mix. Point reviewers to who-owns-which-system (/facility-systems/), hire-gating certs (/cert-checker/), the NFPA 70E critical-power checklist (/checklists/nfpa-70e/), and measurable jobs vs projections (/briefs/jobs-outlook/). Do not pad a bid with suppressed OEWS cells.
What should operators use when hiring facility trades?
Hire against the system and the credential note, not against a NAICS 518 occupation title. Cooling work that can release refrigerants needs EPA Section 608 (/guides/epa-608/). Hydronic / CDU facility water is pipefitter scope (/guides/liquid-cooling/). Critical-power work expects NFPA 70E-aligned training (/checklists/nfpa-70e/). Map the role on /roles/ and /facility-systems/ so ownership of UPS vs CRAH vs loops vs fiber is explicit.
Are the BLS annual openings on this page data-center jobs?
No. The ~72.7k electrician, ~40.6k HVAC/R, ~42k pipefitter/plumber, and ~10.9k lineworker annual openings are economy-wide Employment Projections figures for 2025–35. Label them as national trade demand, not NAICS 518 or campus headcount.