Free email playbook · IA
Get hired on Iowa's
data centers
Iowa is building 6.1 GW of new data centers across 26 sites. This shows you how to get one of those jobs.
26 sites |11,766 workers at peak |Built by Microsoft
Still to build
6.1 GW
Total workers on site at peak
11,766
Building sites
26
Why now
Why Iowa, why now
Iowa is one of the busiest data-center states in the country, with 26 sites from companies like Microsoft, Google, Meta, QTS. The work is steady, it lasts for years, and there are not enough local workers for it.
The trades needed most here: electricians, carpenters, ironworkers. For electricians, the data centers alone need 1.2x as many new workers as Iowa usually adds in a year.
What's inside
The Iowa playbook
- Which trade to pick in Iowa — ranked by how short the builders are.
- The site map — every Iowa data center, who runs it, and where it stands.
- How to get hired — the Iowa unions and contractors, and how a new apprentice gets in.
- Iowa pay and how to get licensed — starting pay, the data-center bump, and the steps to journeyman.
Free by email
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