Annual spending on data center construction in the United States has reached a record pace of $85 billion. This figure represents a 73% increase compared to the previous year. The data, provided by the U.S. Census Bureau, tracks the value of construction put in place and excludes the cost of servers and racks installed within these facilities.
Data center projects now account for approximately 63% of all private office construction, a significant rise from 47% recorded a year ago. Spending in this sector is currently more than nine times higher than the $9.26 billion level observed in January 2021. Meanwhile, general office construction spending has declined by 34.8% since January 2023.
The construction industry's recent growth is heavily reliant on data center development. In the latest monthly report, data centers contributed $5.9 billion to the $8.0 billion increase in private nonresidential spending, representing 74% of the total growth. Additionally, power infrastructure construction has risen by 9.7% year-over-year to support the energy demands of these facilities.
The pace of investment has accelerated for four consecutive months. Year-over-year growth rates reached 36.3% in May, 55.2% in June, 65.3% in July, and continued to climb in August. These figures do not account for additional capital expenditure on hardware, which is also increasing due to rising demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure.
