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The Census data covers the Value of Construction Put in Place, measured monthly, to calculate what a full year would total at that month’s pace. Data center construction is defined as “[including] buildings that contain the hardware needed for storing, processing, and transmitting digital information,” a subcategory of private office. Power plants and transmission lines built to meet data center power demand fall under Census’s separate power category.
The $39.1 billion gap between general office and data center construction spending is the widest in the series since Census data begins in January 2014. The former is at $45.8 billion, down 9.7% YoY and 34.8% since Jan. 2023. Data centers have, in fact, beaten the general office every month since Sept. 2025.
Data center construction now sits at over nine times its Jan. 2021 level of $9.26 billion. Data center construction has become the majority of private office construction, about 63% versus 47% a year earlier, and with forecasts for data center power use still climbing , that is likely to remain the case moving forward.
Private nonresidential construction was at $773.0 billion, down 1.0% YoY, or $688.1 billion and down 5.9% YoY if data centers are excluded. Of the $8.0 billion monthly rise in private nonresidential spending, $5.9 billion or 74% was for data centers. Manufacturing, down 19.8% YoY, fits the same pattern, and data center construction is now about half its size.
Local opposition blocked $68 billion worth of data center projects in the second quarter of 2026
AI data center investment projected to hit $32 trillion by 2050
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/spending-on-u-s-data-center-buildings-hits-record-usd85-billion-annual-pace-up-73-percent-in-a-year-and-census-doesnt-count-the-servers-and-racks-inside#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.