Data Centers and Their Impact on Workforce and Land Use

Data Centers and Their Impact on Workforce and Land Use

This presentation estimates the causal effects of hyperscale data center entry on local labor markets. The rapid growth of large-scale digital infrastructure raises fundamental questions about whether such facilities generate broad economic gains or concentrate benefits narrowly in high-skill sectors. Existing research relies primarily on descriptive methods or cross-sectional comparisons that confound data center siting with preexisting county characteristics. We address this identification challenge by exploiting Google’s 2006 entry into Wasco County, Oregon—one of the first hyperscale data centers in the United States and an exogenous, isolated siting decision that predates the current era of clustered investment. The presentation will also explore the impact of data center development on energy and land use.

Speakers

- Zheng Tian, Penn State Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education

- Timothy Zhuang, Penn State Department of Agricultural Economics, Sociology, and Education

Group viewing brought to you by Lancaster County Planning.

Lancaster County Planning strives to provide educational opportunities for our planning partners – professional planners, municipalities, consultants, designers, engineers, local planning commissions, and interested citizens. In 2026, we will continue to provide an opportunity for our partners to join us at our office to view a mix of live and recorded webinars we have purchased or registered for from various sources on a variety of planning topics. Many of these programs will provide AICP CM and ASLA continuing education credits. Due to site license restrictions, we are not able to share our webinar access information with interested parties. For independent access, please contact the webinar provider directly.

For questions related to this event, please contact 717-299-8333 or email [email protected].