Talent Maps / San Antonio / Data Center Engineers

San Antonio Data Center Engineer Talent Map (2026)

San Antonio has some of the tightest data center space in North America and a long list of new campuses. Here is what data center engineers and technicians earn, who employs them, where the campuses are and what stands in the way.

Staffing a data center project?

A talent map shows where a group of professionals works, what they are paid and who else is trying to hire them. This one covers the engineers and skilled technicians who design, build and run data centers in the San Antonio-New Braunfels metro area. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), and market figures from Avison Young, CBRE, CPS Energy, state construction filings and company reports. Our data center recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Texas data center tracker, our Austin data center talent map and our San Antonio electrical, mechanical and controls engineer talent maps.

0.20%San Antonio colocation vacancy, third-lowest of the top 12 North American marketsAvison Young, Q1 2026

30+Data centers built in Bexar County, with at least 23 more on the wayTexas Tribune via TPR, August 2026

$1B+CyrusOne and Vantage construction registered on Omicron Drive since 2020TDLR data via TPR

200 MWPlanned at Stream’s San Antonio III campusStream Data Centers

40 MWLoad at which CPS Energy treats a customer as a large loadCPS Energy

$103,520Median electrical engineer pay in metro San AntonioBLS, May 2025

Data center pay in San Antonio by role

BLS does not track data center engineers as a separate job, so the table below shows the occupations that design, build and run data centers. San Antonio pays its electrical engineers a median of $103,520, well below the Texas median of $129,450. Network architects and information security analysts are the best-paid roles in the table.

Role (San Antonio metro)	10th percentile	Median	90th percentile
Electrical engineers	$68,420	$103,520	$193,190
Network architects	$80,030	$128,260	$169,670
Information security analysts	$77,060	$122,560	$178,440
Mechanical engineers	$74,340	$104,620	$159,670
Construction managers	$61,370	$98,450	$157,450
Network and systems administrators	$61,620	$96,770	$132,600
HVAC mechanics and installers	$37,960	$58,590	$82,400
Electricians	$37,460	$57,010	$75,670

Annual pay. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025, via O*NET OnLine. Data center employers often pay above these metro figures for critical facilities experience and on-call duty.

What the spread means in practice: the electrical engineer range is wide, from $68,420 at the 10th percentile to $193,190 at the 90th. Experienced critical power engineers sit at the top of that range. On the IT side, San Antonio’s military cyber employers compete for the same network and security people. Read our guide on how to hire data center engineers.

Who employs data center talent in San Antonio

Colocation operators

CyrusOne runs SAT1 (9 MW), SAT2 to SAT4 (36 MW) and SAT5 and SAT6 (18 MW) in San Antonio. It has announced SAT14A in Castroville, a $500 million, 460,000 square foot building.

Vantage has two San Antonio sites with 423 MW of on-site gas generation, according to the Environmental Integrity Project.

Hyperscalers

In early 2025 Microsoft filed plans for $1 billion and 1 million square feet on a 158-acre Texas Research Park campus, up to five buildings on Wiseman Boulevard and SAT16 at Westover Link, a $215 million, 245,000 square foot building.

Amazon plans a $65 million, 93,000 square foot data center on the West Side, with construction from November 2026 to September 2028.

Wholesale developers

Stream Data Centers’ third San Antonio campus covers 135 acres at West Military Drive and Loop 1604. It is planned for up to 200 MW across five 40 MW buildings, with its own 334 MW CPS Energy substation.

Military cyber and federal work

The 16th Air Force, headquartered at JBSA-Lackland, is the Air Force component to US Cyber Command and the NSA. UTSA’s National Security Collaboration Center has 89 partners, including the 16th Air Force, Cyber Command and Microsoft Federal.

Where the campuses are: San Antonio submarkets

Omicron Drive

ColocationEstablished

CyrusOne’s SAT5 and SAT6 campus, designed for three buildings, and Vantage’s sites.

Texas Research Park

HyperscalePlanned

Microsoft’s planned 1 million square foot campus on Lambda Drive.

Westover Link and SH 211

Hyperscale

Microsoft’s SAT16 and Amazon’s planned West Side data center on SH 211.

West Military Drive and Loop 1604

WholesaleNew campus

Stream’s San Antonio III campus and its on-site substation.

Medina County

HyperscalePlanned

Microsoft’s planned SAT80 to SAT82 and CyrusOne’s SAT14A, both in Castroville.

What stands in the way in 2026

A state audit of grid connections. In August 2026 Texas ordered an audit of every data center waiting to connect to the ERCOT grid, and in September it halted state environmental permits for data centers until the audit is done.
Power. CPS Energy told the city council in March 2026 that it needs hundreds to thousands of megawatts of transmission and distribution upgrades. Loads of 75 MW or more need an ERCOT large load study at $150,000 per point of interconnection.
Water. SAWS said data centers should not be encouraged to compete for Edwards Aquifer water rights, and called for more recycled water.
Zoning. The city’s proposed rules would limit data centers to C-3 and I-1 zones with a 1,000-foot buffer.
On-site generation. An environmental complaint was filed in July 2026 over gas generation at Vantage’s sites.

The talent pipeline

UTSA. Its $91.8 million San Pedro I building downtown houses the School of Data Science and the National Security Collaboration Center.
Alamo Colleges. The district, which serves 90,000 students a year, launched the Alamo Technical Institute in July 2026 as a single entry point for short-term credentials. It does not list a data center program.
Military separations. The 16th Air Force has about 45,000 Total Force Airmen across 123 locations, and San Antonio is its home base.
Adjacent trades. San Antonio has no dedicated data center technician program yet, so electrical, HVAC and networking programs supply most technicians. See our San Antonio electrical engineer talent map.

What this means if you’re hiring

Expect competition from Austin. Austin electrical engineers earn about $42,000 more at the median. Experienced critical power staff can commute or move north.
Recruit from the military. Airmen leaving cyber and communications units already work in secure, always-on facilities.
Pay up for network and security roles. They are the best-paid jobs in the table, and federal cyber employers hire from the same pool.
Watch the audit. Projects still waiting on power may slip. Hire first for sites that are already connected.

Staffing a San Antonio data center project?

Apollo Technical has recruited engineers since 2010. Our recruiting teams place electrical, mechanical, controls and critical facilities talent on a contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire basis.

Call 512.686.1181 or see our San Antonio engineering recruiters page.

Hire data center talent

Frequently asked questions

How big is the San Antonio data center market?

No research firm publishes a San Antonio-only inventory. CBRE tracks Austin and San Antonio as one secondary market and says it passed the New York Tri-State area in inventory in late 2025. Bexar County alone has more than 30 data centers built and at least 23 more on the way.

How much do data center engineers make in San Antonio?

BLS does not track data center engineers separately. In metro San Antonio, electrical engineers earn a median of $103,520, mechanical engineers $104,620 and network architects $128,260.

Does San Antonio pay less than Austin for data center talent?

For electrical roles, yes. Electrical engineers earn a median of $103,520 in metro San Antonio and $145,360 in metro Austin. Mechanical engineer pay is close: $104,620 in San Antonio and $106,690 in Austin. See our Austin data center talent map and our US data center map.

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