Data centers are the backbone of the digital services that individuals, businesses, and governments rely on. Globally, data center investments are projected to reach nearly $7 trillion by 2030. More than $4 trillion will be allocated to computing hardware. With more than 40 percent of this spending expected to occur in the United States, each state can carefully assess costs and benefits to ensure optimal outcomes for their communities, note Senior Partner Adam Barth and coauthors. States that act strategically can ensure balanced growth, support sustainable infrastructure, and position themselves as leaders in fostering innovative, future-ready solutions.
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A tree map chart illustrates the global distribution of capital investments across the data center value chain segments from 2025 to 2030. The chart is divided into 2 main sections: the left side represents various costs associated with building data centers, including labor (~$0.6 trillion), shell and site (~$0.3 trillion), land acquisition (~$0.1 trillion) totaling ~$1.0 trillion. It also includes energizers, such as electrical and mechanical equipment (~$0.8 trillion), power generation (~$0.4 trillion), and network infrastructure (~$0.1 trillion), totaling ~$1.3 trillion. The right side of the tree map represents designers and manufacturers, including investments in servers (~$3.5 trillion) and storage (~$0.8 trillion), totaling ~$4.3 trillion. The overall total for all three segments is ~$6.7 trillion, which is roughly 1.0% of the global GDP annually.
Note: This image description was completed with the assistance of Writer, a gen AI tool.
Source: Goldman Sachs; S&P Capital IQ; McKinsey Data Center CAPEX TAM & Demand model; analyst reports; expert interviews.
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To read the article, see “The data center balance: How US states can navigate the opportunities and challenges,” August 8, 2025.