Talent Maps / Chicago / Data Center Engineers

Chicago Data Center Engineer Talent Map (2026)

Chicago is one of the busiest data center markets in North America, with a dense cluster west of O’Hare and gigawatt campuses planned in the outer suburbs. 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 Chicago-Naperville-Elgin metro area. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), and market figures from CBRE, Avison Young, ComEd filings, city and village records and company reports. Our data center recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our top US data center markets guide, our Dallas-Fort Worth data center talent map and our Chicago electrical, mechanical and controls engineer talent maps.

2.2%Chicago wholesale data center vacancy in the first half of 2026CBRE, H1 2026

538 MWColocation capacity absorbed in Chicago in one quarter, fourth-most in the USAvison Young, Q1 2026

28,000 MW+Requested by more than 75 large-load projects in ComEd’s queue, above its 24,000 MW all-time peakCapitol News Illinois, March 2026

20Data centers operating in Elk Grove Village, with five more under constructionNBC Chicago, June 2026

1.8 GWPlanned at the Joliet Technology Center, approved in March 2026Shaw Local, March 2026

$113,520Median electrical engineer pay in metro ChicagoBLS, May 2025

Data center pay in Chicago 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. Chicago pays its electrical engineers a median of $113,520, above the Illinois median of $107,860 but below the national median of $120,630. Network architects are the best-paid role in the table. Chicago’s electricians earn a median of $102,350, far above the national median of $63,190.

Role (Chicago metro)	10th percentile	Median	90th percentile
Electrical engineers	$76,660	$113,520	$165,890
Network architects	$95,930	$143,800	$205,340
Information security analysts	$79,460	$125,310	$174,450
Construction managers	$55,500	$117,280	$178,140
Network and systems administrators	$68,990	$103,170	$162,290
Electricians	$49,890	$102,350	$124,070
Mechanical engineers	$66,900	$102,070	$157,720
HVAC mechanics and installers	$47,460	$77,960	$117,940

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 runs from $76,660 at the 10th percentile to $165,890 at the 90th. Experienced critical power engineers sit at the top of that range. On the trades side, Chicago’s electricians and HVAC mechanics earn well above national pay, so construction and operations budgets need to start higher here than in most markets. Read our guide on how to hire data center engineers.

Who employs data center talent in Chicago

Colocation and wholesale operators

Stream Data Centers runs two fully leased buildings in Elk Grove Village: ORDA, with 31 MW of utility power, and ORDB, with 32 MW. Its third campus, ORDC, is planned for three buildings and 2 million square feet, starting with a 40 MW building.

QTS runs a 26-acre campus on South Ashland Avenue, the former Sun-Times press site, with 42 MW expandable to 125 MW. Chicago’s plan commission approved a $300 million second building in late 2024.

Hyperscale campuses

CyrusOne has a full 480 MW allocation from ComEd for its 228-acre Yorkville campus. Construction began in spring 2026, and the first building is due by the end of the first quarter of 2028.

Meta has run a hyperscale data center in DeKalb since 2023, and the city has approved a second.

Gigawatt developers

Hillwood and PowerHouse Data Centers plan the $20 billion Joliet Technology Center: 24 buildings on about 795 acres and up to 1.8 GW. Building is due to start in early 2027, with the first sub-campus done by 2028 and 700 permanent jobs promised at full build.

Project Cardinal, on 1,037 acres, and Project Steel, on 540 acres, are also planned in Yorkville.

City and inner-suburb sites

The City of Chicago counts about 39 data centers inside city limits. Aurora has five operating data centers, and CyrusOne is building another there.

Where the campuses are: Chicago submarkets

Elk Grove Village

ColocationHyperscale

20 operating data centers and five under construction, mostly in the business park west of O’Hare. Stream is building its third local campus here.

City of Chicago

ColocationUnder review

About 39 data centers, including QTS on South Ashland Avenue. A proposed moratorium was introduced in September 2026.

Aurora

ColocationNew rules

Five operating data centers and a CyrusOne building under construction. The city adopted noise, water and energy rules for data centers in March 2026.

Yorkville

HyperscaleUnder construction

CyrusOne, Project Cardinal and Project Steel along the Eldamain Road corridor.

Joliet

GigawattApproved

The planned 1.8 GW Joliet Technology Center near Rowell and Bernhard roads.

DeKalb

Hyperscale

Meta’s operating data center, with a second one approved.

What stands in the way in 2026

Power. ComEd has more than 75 large-load projects in its queue asking for over 28,000 MW, against an all-time peak of 24,000 MW. In March 2026 the Illinois Commerce Commission approved higher deposits, starting at $1 million for 50 to 200 MW and rising $500,000 for each additional 100 MW.
State incentives on hold. The POWER Act, which would have set energy and water rules for data centers, failed to pass by the May 31, 2026 deadline. Gov. JB Pritzker then paused new data center tax incentive agreements from July 1, 2026 and asked lawmakers for reforms in the fall veto session.
A possible Chicago moratorium. Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order in August 2026 that tightens review of generator emissions, noise and power and water use. A 12-month moratorium was introduced in September 2026 and sent to the Rules committee.
Local opposition. A developer withdrew its Hoffman Estates rezoning request in July 2026 after resident pushback, and West Chicago is among the Illinois cities that have paused new data center development.
Water and noise limits. Yorkville capped CyrusOne’s campus at 40,000 gallons of water a day, down from a projected 500,000, and requires continuous noise monitoring.

The talent pipeline

Per Scholas Chicago. Its tuition-free, 15-week Data Center Technician with AI Tools course covers CompTIA A+, OSHA 10 and NFPA 70E. The next class starts December 7, 2026.
IBEW Local 134. Chicago’s electrical union usually gets more than 1,000 applicants for about 200 apprenticeship spots a year, and recently got more than 4,000.
Joliet Junior College. The college says it will expand welding, industrial maintenance, HVAC and electrical systems training as new plants open in Will County.
Licensing. Engineers who stamp designs in Illinois need a professional engineer license from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, which moved applications to its CORE online system in October 2024. See our Chicago electrical engineer talent map.

What this means if you’re hiring

Expect competition for the same people. Elk Grove Village’s existing sites, Stream’s new campus and the Yorkville and Joliet builds will all hire from the same pool through 2028.
Budget for trades pay. Chicago’s median electrician earns $102,350 and its median HVAC mechanic $77,960, both well above national pay.
Pay up for network roles. Network architects earn a median of $143,800 in Chicago, above the national median of $134,050.
Hire first for sites with power. With ComEd’s queue larger than its peak load, projects that already hold a power allocation are the ones most likely to staff on schedule.

Staffing a Chicago 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 847.994.3030 or see our Chicago engineering recruiters page.

Hire data center talent

Frequently asked questions

How big is the Chicago data center market?

CBRE tracks Chicago as a primary market, with vacancy at 2.2% in the first half of 2026. Avison Young reports that Chicago absorbed 538 MW of colocation capacity in the first quarter of 2026, fourth among US markets. Elk Grove Village alone has 20 data centers operating and five under construction.

How much do data center engineers make in Chicago?

BLS does not track data center engineers separately. In metro Chicago, electrical engineers earn a median of $113,520, mechanical engineers $102,070 and network architects $143,800.

Does Chicago pay more than Dallas-Fort Worth for data center talent?

For engineers, no. Electrical engineers earn a median of $113,520 in metro Chicago, against $124,390 in Dallas-Fort Worth and $120,630 nationally. Mechanical engineers earn $102,070 in Chicago and $105,420 in Dallas-Fort Worth. Network architects are the exception, at $143,800 in Chicago against $137,900. See our Dallas-Fort Worth data center talent map and our US data center map.

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