Data center construction fuels surge in six-figure trade jobs, raising housing concerns

The boom in AI data centers is creating a wave of $100,000-plus jobs for electricians, plumbers and other tradespeople, while a shortage of these workers is tightening the housing market.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang predicts that the upcoming wave of six-figure salaries will be generated by the trades needed to erect AI data centers, not by traditional tech roles. Workers moving into this sector are seeing wage jumps of 25% to 30%, with some supervisors earning over $100,000 and electricians managing multiple sites reaching $200,000, driven by a scarcity of electricians, pipe layers and HVAC technicians estimated at about 439,000 positions.

Data-center construction spending approached $80 billion in 2025, a three-fold increase from the prior year, and projects are popping up in Texas, Virginia, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and other states, often near low-income neighborhoods. The surge is intensifying a labor squeeze that already inflates costs and prolongs timelines for homebuilders, who lack the deep pockets of tech giants like Meta, Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

While some analysts see a long-term benefit as more apprentices enter the trades, others warn that the immediate competition for electricians and other specialists could delay residential projects and exacerbate the nation’s 4-million-home deficit. The outcome may hinge on whether workers stay in the trade after data-center contracts end and whether policy measures can ease permitting and zoning bottlenecks.