Record Spending Growth
Private data center construction spending is up over 73%, from $49.05 billion to $84.95 billion, year over year, according to the Census Bureau’s detailed construction spending tables for August. Spending is at a record annual pace, and growth is the fastest since April 2025’s +88.2%. Data center buildouts are now about 63% of all private office construction. The report excludes any value of racks or servers in data centers from its construction spending numbers and does not speculate on causes for the spending increase.
The Census data covers the Value of Construction Put in Place, measured monthly, to calculate what a full year would total at that month’s pace. Data center construction is defined as including buildings that contain the hardware needed for storing, processing, and transmitting digital information, forming a subcategory of private office. Power plants and transmission lines built to meet data center power demand fall under a separate power category.
Office vs Data Center Shift
The $39.1 billion gap between general office and data center construction spending is the widest in the series since Census data began in January 2014. General office spending is at $45.8 billion, down 9.7% year over year and 34.8% since January 2023. Data centers have exceeded general office spending every month since September 2025.
Data center construction now sits at over nine times its January 2021 level of $9.26 billion. Data center construction has become the majority of private office construction, at about 63% versus 47% a year earlier, and with forecasts for data center power use still climbing, that trajectory is expected to continue.
Nonresidential and Power Impact
Private nonresidential construction was at $773.0 billion, down 1.0% year over year, or $688.1 billion and down 5.9% if data centers are excluded. Of the $8.0 billion monthly rise in private nonresidential spending, $5.9 billion or 74% was for data centers. Manufacturing, down 19.8% year over year, fits a similar pattern, with data center construction now about half its size.
Power construction, up 9.7% year over year, represents the other major gainer. Together, the data indicates that the construction industry’s growth relies heavily on data center projects. This aligns with statements from industry economists noting that nonresidential gains and power sector growth are heavily boosted by electricity and infrastructure needs of data centers.
Accelerating Pace
Growth has accelerated for four consecutive months. In addition to August’s reported gain, May was up 36.3% year over year, June reached 55.2%, and July saw 65.3%. Because the figures exclude server spending, which is also rising due to hardware demands, the Census metrics reflect only a portion of total capital deployment. The acceleration in construction remains a primary indicator of market direction.
