{"id": 1210169, "name": "Monthly spending on data center construction in the United States (inflation-adjusted)", "unit": "constant 2021 US$", "createdAt": "2026-03-25T15:05:44.000Z", "updatedAt": "2026-03-25T15:05:45.000Z", "coverage": "", "timespan": "", "datasetId": 7779, "shortUnit": "$", "columnOrder": 0, "shortName": "datacenter_construction_spending_real", "catalogPath": "grapher/us_census_bureau/2026-03-24/datacenter_construction/datacenter_construction#datacenter_construction_spending_real", "descriptionShort": "This only includes work done on-site to construct data center buildings each month, including materials and construction labor. It excludes the cost of IT hardware inside the buildings, like servers and storage, which can account for a large share of total investment. This data is expressed in US dollars, adjusted for inflation.", "descriptionProcessing": "We used the Producer Price Index (PPI) for new office building construction to adjust for inflation, following guidance from the [Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)](https://www.census.gov/construction/c30/definitions.html) that suggests data center construction costs are similar to office buildings due to their comparable structural components.", "type": "int", "grapherConfigIdETL": "019d2587-baef-7b45-a763-b19242c7a6da", "datasetName": "Value of Private Construction Put in Place", "updatePeriodDays": 30, "datasetVersion": "2026-03-24", "nonRedistributable": false, "display": {"unit": "constant 2021 US$", "zeroDay": "2014-01-01", "shortUnit": "$", "yearIsDay": true, "numDecimalPlaces": 0}, "schemaVersion": 2, "processingLevel": "major", "presentation": {"titlePublic": "Monthly spending on data center construction in the United States", "topicTagsLinks": ["Artificial Intelligence"]}, "descriptionKey": ["This indicator shows monthly spending on the physical construction of data center buildings in the United States. It represents the actual value of work done at construction sites each month, including materials, labor, and contractor costs.", "This data doesn't include maintenance work, land purchases, or the computer equipment that goes inside data centers (like servers and storage systems). This means it captures only a small part of total data center investment, since IT hardware represents a significant additional cost.", "Data centers power a wide range of online services beyond AI, such as streaming services and cloud storage.", "The values shown are not seasonally adjusted, meaning they reflect actual monthly spending and typical seasonal patterns, including slower winter construction and busier summer periods.", "This indicator is adjusted for inflation using the Producer Price Index (PPI) for new office building construction. Following guidance from the [Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)](https://www.census.gov/construction/c30/definitions.html), we assume data center construction costs are similar to office-type buildings because both use comparable structural components, such as foundations, walls, and HVAC systems."], "dimensions": {"years": {"values": [{"id": 0}, {"id": 31}, {"id": 59}, {"id": 90}, {"id": 120}, {"id": 151}, {"id": 181}, {"id": 212}, {"id": 243}, {"id": 273}, {"id": 304}, {"id": 334}, {"id": 365}, {"id": 396}, {"id": 424}, {"id": 455}, {"id": 485}, {"id": 516}, {"id": 546}, {"id": 577}, {"id": 608}, {"id": 638}, {"id": 669}, {"id": 699}, {"id": 730}, {"id": 761}, {"id": 790}, {"id": 821}, {"id": 851}, {"id": 882}, {"id": 912}, {"id": 943}, {"id": 974}, {"id": 1004}, {"id": 1035}, {"id": 1065}, {"id": 1096}, {"id": 1127}, {"id": 1155}, {"id": 1186}, {"id": 1216}, {"id": 1247}, {"id": 1277}, {"id": 1308}, {"id": 1339}, {"id": 1369}, {"id": 1400}, {"id": 1430}, {"id": 1461}, {"id": 1492}, {"id": 1520}, {"id": 1551}, {"id": 1581}, {"id": 1612}, {"id": 1642}, {"id": 1673}, {"id": 1704}, {"id": 1734}, {"id": 1765}, {"id": 1795}, {"id": 1826}, {"id": 1857}, {"id": 1885}, {"id": 1916}, {"id": 1946}, {"id": 1977}, {"id": 2007}, {"id": 2038}, {"id": 2069}, {"id": 2099}, {"id": 2130}, {"id": 2160}, {"id": 2191}, {"id": 2222}, {"id": 2251}, {"id": 2282}, {"id": 2312}, {"id": 2343}, {"id": 2373}, {"id": 2404}, {"id": 2435}, {"id": 2465}, {"id": 2496}, {"id": 2526}, {"id": 2557}, {"id": 2588}, {"id": 2616}, {"id": 2647}, {"id": 2677}, {"id": 2708}, {"id": 2738}, {"id": 2769}, {"id": 2800}, {"id": 2830}, {"id": 2861}, {"id": 2891}, {"id": 2922}, {"id": 2953}, {"id": 2981}, {"id": 3012}, {"id": 3042}, {"id": 3073}, {"id": 3103}, {"id": 3134}, {"id": 3165}, {"id": 3195}, {"id": 3226}, {"id": 3256}, {"id": 3287}, {"id": 3318}, {"id": 3346}, {"id": 3377}, {"id": 3407}, {"id": 3438}, {"id": 3468}, {"id": 3499}, {"id": 3530}, {"id": 3560}, {"id": 3591}, {"id": 3621}, {"id": 3652}, {"id": 3683}, {"id": 3712}, {"id": 3743}, {"id": 3773}, {"id": 3804}, {"id": 3834}, {"id": 3865}, {"id": 3896}, {"id": 3926}, {"id": 3957}, {"id": 3987}, {"id": 4018}, {"id": 4049}, {"id": 4077}, {"id": 4108}, {"id": 4138}, {"id": 4169}, {"id": 4199}, {"id": 4230}, {"id": 4261}, {"id": 4291}, {"id": 4322}, {"id": 4352}, {"id": 4383}]}, "entities": {"values": [{"id": 13, "name": "United States", "code": "USA"}]}}, "origins": [{"id": 14237, "title": "Value of Private Construction Put in Place", "description": "Monthly construction spending data for private construction in the United States, broken down by construction type.\nThe dataset includes datacenter construction spending measured as not seasonally adjusted monthly values in millions of dollars.\n\nData is collected through the Survey of Construction (SOC), which provides national and regional statistics on\nnew privately-owned residential construction. The construction spending estimates are based on reports from builders,\nowners, and architects, along with information from building permits and Census Bureau surveys.", "producer": "United States Census Bureau", "citationFull": "U.S. Census Bureau, Value of Construction Put in Place Survey (VIP), Private Construction Spending Time Series", "urlMain": "https://www.census.gov/construction/c30/historical_data.html", "urlDownload": "https://www.census.gov/construction/c30/xlsx/privtime.xlsx", "dateAccessed": "2026-03-24", "datePublished": "2026-03-01", "license": {"name": "Public Domain"}}, {"id": 14238, "title": "US PPI New Office Construction", "description": "BLS uses a method in which office building models are developed and specified to represent the offices being constructed in the marketplace. Multiple office models were developed to accommodate variations in building design. The building models are described as a series of unique production elements or \"assemblies\" in BLS terminology. Each building assembly represents a building construction activity that can be fully defined as a unique portion of the total project. Each assembly is made up of unit-price components that define the specific type and quantity of materials, labor, and equipment necessary for the assembly's installation.\n\nA professional cost-estimating firm developed the building models under BLS direction. To achieve an output price, BLS combines the detailed material and installation (labor and related equipment) cost data, which are updated quarterly by the cost-estimating firm, with margin (overhead and profit) data collected monthly by BLS directly from building construction contractors. BLS aggregates output price changes captured at the assembly level each month to represent the changes in output prices for the total structure. Therefore, the BLS output indexes attempt to measure changes in the input costs for these structures, along with changes in contractor markups.", "producer": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics", "citationFull": "U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics", "urlMain": "https://www.bls.gov/ppi/factsheets/producer-price-index-data-for-nonresidential-building-construction-sector-new-office-building-construction-naics-236223.htm", "dateAccessed": "2026-03-24", "datePublished": "2026", "license": {"url": "https://www.bls.gov/opub/copyright-information.htm", "name": "Public domain"}}]}