Iowa needs
welders for its data centers
Iowa is building 6.1 GW of new data centers. Here is how much welders work that makes — and why there are not enough welders for it.
Welders for Iowa's data centers: about 1,393 to spare.
Will Iowa have enough workers?
At the busiest point of the build. Bars to the left mean a shortage (good if you are in that trade). Bars to the right mean workers to spare.
What this means for welders in Iowa
Iowa is building 6.1 GW of new AI data centers across 26 sites. On a data center, welders weld the steel and the pipe that hold the building and its cooling together.
Welders — could go either way. The data centers need about 919 welders, and Iowa has about 2,312 free for this kind of work. Enough to mostly cover it, but it will be busy, with some overtime.
Iowa has 26 data-center sites in the works, with 6.1 GW still to build. That keeps welders busy for years: as one job winds down, the next one is starting, so the work does not dry up after a single build.
Iowa welders earn about $49,450 a year on average. Data-center work pays more than that, and when a trade is short, overtime can push experienced welders well over $100,000 a year, with health care and a pension through the union.
It is the same across the country: builders cannot find enough skilled workers. The U.S. needs about 140,000 more trade workers by 2030 to build all the data centers, and most builders say hiring is their hardest problem. Microsoft's president has called the shortage of electricians the biggest thing slowing data centers down.
The building work runs a few years, not forever — but Iowa has enough lined up to keep you busy, and the skills carry over to every other big job in the state. To start, look at the Iowa welders apprenticeship programs. That is the way in. Sources: a national survey of data-center building plans, plus U.S. jobs and pay data.
Get welders job updates for Iowa
New Iowa data-center sites, tips on getting hired, and pay updates for welders.
READ THE NATIONAL WELDERS SWITCH GUIDE -- $9
National welders training, pay, and licensing context. This is not a Iowa-specific paid guide.
IOWA PROGRAMS
The Iowa welders apprenticeship programs, schools, and licensing path.
The data centers behind these numbers
- Altoona Data Center Campus — Meta, Altoona (1.4 GW)
- QTS Cedar Rapids Campus — QTS, Cedar Rapids (1.1 GW)
- COPT Van Meter Data Center Campus — COPT Defense Properties, Van Meter (1 GW)
- Tract Altoona Technology Park — Tract, Altoona (1 GW)
- QTS Cedar Rapids Campus (Big Cedar Industrial Center) — QTS, Cedar Rapids (616 MW)
- Cedar Rapids Data Center (Big Cedar Industrial Center) — Google, Cedar Rapids (600 MW)