Lately everyone – including voters on the left and right – hates data centers. The consensus seems to be “not in my backyard.”  We even hear people say data centers cause cancer.

But data centers can and should be seen more accurately as assets and job centers. The tech industry does a lousy job explaining this to homeowners.

We looked at Loudoun County, Virginia, which is outside of Washington, DC.  The largest concentration of data centers in the country and one of the first.  As a result of all the property taxes paid by the data centers, taxes have gone down for everyone else.

Loudoun County government has the data:

“Over the past ten years, the Board of Supervisors has lowered the real property tax rate every year —  from $1.145 in tax year 2016 to $0.805 cents per $100 in assessed value for tax year 2025.”

Data centers are assessed $600 per square foot – or triple the tax rate that other businesses pay.

For every dollar they receive in government services, they generate more than $26 in taxes. Data centers don’t use schools or hospitals or libraries or attend 4th of July celebrations – but they pay for them.