Illinois Data Centers: 121,000 Jobs, But Only 2,800 Are Permanent

A $57 billion wave of data center investment in Illinois through 2035 will create 121,000 jobs — but only 2,800 of them will be direct, permanent positions, according to a new study by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute. That works out to $20.2 million of developer spending per permanent job.

The study, coauthored by University of Illinois professor Robert Bruno, projects that most of the employment impact comes from temporary construction work and indirect demand across the economy. ILEPI, a labor-backed research organization, estimates 41,751 consumer-demand-induced jobs over the next decade — from restaurant workers to factory jobs at construction-materials manufacturers.

The report lands at a sensitive political moment. Illinois lawmakers failed to pass data center regulations in the spring session, and Gov. JB Pritzker paused the state's data center tax incentive program pending further discussion. ILEPI economist Frank Manzo said a comprehensive study was needed to guide policymakers through residents' concerns.

"There's currently a trust deficit amongst the public, and Illinois can ensure responsible development of data centers to address that deficit, and we've come up with possible ways to do that," Manzo said.

What are the labor-market details?

The jobs picture splits into three tiers. Just 2,800 permanent direct jobs will exist once the facilities are built — data centers employ few people after construction ends. The construction tier pays well: thirteen projects in 2020 and 2021 created 8,000 construction jobs with wages over $100,000, according to the report.

The largest tier is the 41,751 induced jobs spread across the broader economy. For a construction worker in Illinois, that signals a decade of six-figure opportunity. For someone seeking stable, permanent tech-facility employment, the pipeline is far thinner.

Anthony Elmo, a researcher at Good Jobs First, a national organization that advocates against corporate subsidies, questioned the value of taxpayer-backed incentives. "If this were completely private money, it would be a different story," Elmo said. "These taxpayer dollars need to actually incentivize good long-term jobs and they're not."

Elmo also raised a longer-term risk to even the permanent positions: "As they are able to build their technology and build their ability to run data centers remotely and without permanent positions, how many of those permanent positions will go away?"

What does it mean for property taxes?

The report found data centers would supply nearly $300 million in annual property tax revenue once operational, allowing local governments to cut resident property taxes by 3–10% if no abatements are offered. Illinois already has more than 240 planned or active data centers, or 19 per 1 million residents.

The DeKalb County case illustrates the mechanism. In 2024, Meta paid $31 million in property taxes on its new data center there, and average property taxes in the county rose about 2%, versus 6% on average across the state.

But abatements can erode the benefit. Kristan Wong Karinen, also of Good Jobs First, noted the city reduced the property taxes paid on the Meta facility. "Abating the taxes doesn't help you at all," she said. "It just hurts any kind of gain you could have had from it." The report recommends banning local property tax breaks for data centers.

What happens to electric bills?

The tradeoff is energy. In a mid-level scenario, new data centers would add 6.5 gigawatts of demand to Illinois' grid by 2035 and raise electric system costs by almost 10%, adding roughly $12 per month, or $150 a year, to residential bills.

Outside projections run higher. PJM, the regional transmission organization covering northeastern Illinois, forecasts data center demand will grow by 10.7 GW by 2035 in ComEd's territory alone. The Natural Resources Defense Council predicted last year that average families in the PJM territory could see prices rise by as much as $70 per month by 2028.

"One thing that's horrible for the economy is high electric bills, because when consumers are pouring all their money into escalating electric bills, they don't have money to use to spark the economy in other places," said Jim Chilsen, spokesperson for the Citizens Utility Board.

What policy changes are on the table?

The report put forward 10 proposals, many aligned with the stalled POWER Act, which would require data centers to secure their own renewable energy supply, mandate water-use permits and transparency reporting, and ban nondisclosure agreements with developers. It also proposes limiting state incentives by raising the investment and jobs thresholds to qualify for tax breaks and shortening their duration.

Christine Nannicelli, who oversees renewable energy policy at the Sierra Club of Illinois, said the state should require good behavior rather than reward it. "This isn't about offering fluffy tax incentives to do the right thing," Nannicelli said. "We need to really raise the bar for this industry as a whole."

Lawmakers did not pass the POWER Act in the spring, but advocates expect the bill to advance during the fall veto session — and Pritzker called on lawmakers to act last week, setting up a regulatory showdown that will determine how much of the projected job and tax bounty materializes.