# Data centers use a lot of electricity. Official industry jobs are modest, and mostly not the trades.

Retrieved 2026-11-05. Live: https://datacenterskilledtrades.com/briefs/jobs-vs-power/

## Answer

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 trades who build and maintain these sites mostly work for contractors, so they do not show up in the industry job count. Both are real, just counted in different places.

Technical detail: Our read of the dated federal pack: **192 TWh** / **4.7%** of total U.S. electricity (2024); NAICS 518 payroll near 450–480 thousand; OEWS 518200 ~41% computer/math and ~17% management; construction employment suppressed; electrician/HVAC/lineworker/pipefitter detail not published. Facility trades usually sit outside NAICS 518.

By Jake Rinard, PMP · Program Director, industrial megaprojects · Checked 2026-11-05. Citable object: Dataset: Data centers: electricity use vs NAICS 518 employment (https://datacenterskilledtrades.com/briefs/jobs-vs-power/#dataset-table). About: https://datacenterskilledtrades.com/about/#editor

## What DataCenterSkilledTrades says this means

- **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 /cert-checker/, and use /checklists/nfpa-70e/ 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.”

## Who this is for

1. **DC general & trade contractors**: bid/staffing narratives; trades often outside NAICS 518. See /facility-systems/, /cert-checker/, /checklists/nfpa-70e/.
2. **Operators hiring facility trades**: hire-gating certs + who owns which system. See /cert-checker/, /guides/epa-608/, /roles/.
3. **Local governments & HOAs**: use dated LBNL/EIA/BLS figures; do not invent FTE-per-MW or gallons; cite the Dataset table.

## Power

- 192 TWh / 4.7% of total U.S. electricity (2024): LBNL 2025 Update, Smith et al. 2026, LBNL-2001758. https://www.osti.gov/biblio/3374245 · https://doi.org/10.71468/P1RP4F
- Servers alone ~7% of commercial electricity (2025): EIA Today in Energy https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=67704 (released 2026-05-19)
- Computing ~8% of commercial electricity (2024): EIA https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=65564 (released 2025-06-25)

## Jobs in NAICS 518 / 518200

- CES CES5051800001: 480.9k (Dec 2024), 472.9k (Dec 2025), 453.8k P (Sep 2026). https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CES5051800001
- OEWS May 2025 NAICS 518200 all occupations: 485,550; Computer+Math 200,900 (41.4%); Management 80,170 (16.5%); Facilities Managers 520; Install/Maint 2,370 (0.5%).

## Jobs not counted / trades caveat

- Construction (47-0000) employment in OEWS 518200: ** suppressed.
- Electricians 47-2111, HVAC/R 49-9021, lineworkers 49-9051, pipefitters 47-2152: no published OEWS May 2025 rows for 518200.
- Economy-wide EP openings (NOT DC jobs): electricians ~72.7k, HVAC/R ~40.6k, pipefitters ~42k, lineworkers ~10.9k /yr.

## 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.

## Sources

1. LBNL-2001758 / OSTI 3374245 / doi:10.71468/P1RP4F
2. EIA Today in Energy 67704 and 65564
3. BLS CES CES5051800001
4. BLS OEWS May 2025 oesm25in4 nat4d NAICS 518200
5. BLS EP 2025-35 (USDL-26-1422)