Iowa is now part of a historic and unprecedented wave of financial investment in data centers that has become the largest industrial undertaking in modern U.S. history. According to a report by Columbia Business School professor Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, the current buildout involves $10 trillion in investment and accounts for nearly 4% of the nation’s annual economic output. This figure dwarfs the railroad expansion of the late 1800s, which represented about $173 billion in today’s dollars and 2% of GDP.

A Pew Research Center report from April lists Iowa among the states where large numbers of data centers are proposed, alongside major hubs like Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington. While Texas, Virginia, Ohio, and Georgia are projected to receive the highest concentration of costs—up to $638 billion over three years—economists warn that this massive influx of capital is beginning to crowd out other vital sectors, particularly housing.

The rapid growth in data center construction has coincided with a decline in residential building. In the past two years, new construction value for data centers has more than doubled to $85 billion annually, while all other construction value has dropped by 8%. David Pickering, a senior vice president at Industrial Info Resources, notes that the profitability of artificial intelligence has yet to catch up with the enormous expense of the buildout, describing the current situation as “not a pretty picture.”

Concerns are also rising regarding energy consumption. Van Nieuwerburgh estimates that the new infrastructure will double electricity consumption, contributing to higher utility bills for residents. A collaborative analysis from Carnegie Mellon University and North Carolina State University found that data centers and cryptocurrency mining could raise electricity bills by 8% nationally, with some regions seeing increases as high as 25%. As states like Nevada reevaluate their tax exemption policies due to rising energy and water demands, Iowa’s inclusion in this list highlights the growing economic and infrastructure challenges that come with hosting this new industrial era.

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iowacapitaldispatch.com — https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/10/17/repub/data-centers-are-now-the-largest-financial-bet-in-us-history/