by John Reid

As discussions range further in Prince William County over the planned data centers, making the Northern Virginia region the data center capital of the world, the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC) released a new report on their economic impact.

According to the report, in 2023, the total economic investment in data centers in Virginia amounted to $203 billion, including employing over 12,140 operational workers throughout the state.

Additional key figures from the economic impact report include:

• In 2022, data centers paid $640 million in state taxes and $1 billion to local governments in Virginia.
• In 2023, data centers throughout Northern Virginia directly provided approximately:

• 10,420 operational jobs and 12,340 construction jobs,
• $2.6 billion in associated employee pay and benefits, and
• $15.5 billion in local economic output
• For every job inside a Northern Virginia data center, 2.9 additional jobs are supported in the rest of the Northern Virginia economy, not including construction jobs.
• Data centers also pay large amounts in taxes but place few demands on local public services. In Loudoun County, data centers pay approximately $26 for every dollar of local public services required (a 26:1 ratio). In Prince William County, the ratio is 13:1.
  • For comparison, fiscal benefit-to-cost ratios for other types of development, such as manufacturing plants, rarely exceed 4:1.

For more information on the impact of data centers, and to view the full NVTC report, visit their website.