Talent Maps / Dallas-Fort Worth / Data Center Engineers

Dallas-Fort Worth Data Center Engineer Talent Map (2026)

Dallas-Fort Worth is one of the largest data center markets in the world. Here is what data center engineers and technicians earn, who employs them, where the campuses are and what is slowing the build-out in 2026.

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 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro area. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025), and market figures come from CBRE and other brokers’ 2026 reports. Our data center recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our Texas data center tracker and our DFW electrical, mechanical and civil engineer talent maps.

1,432.8 MWData center capacity in DFW, third in North AmericaCBRE, Q2 2026

39.6 MWOf that capacity still available to leaseCBRE, Q2 2026

765+ MWUnder construction in DFW, 95% of it preleasedCBRE, H1 2026

3.7 GWMore greenfield capacity planned but not yet startedCBRE, H1 2026

470.8 MWCapacity absorbed by tenants in DFW in 2025CBRE

$124,390Median electrical engineer pay in DFWBLS, May 2025

Data center pay in Dallas-Fort Worth 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. Engineers and network architects earn the most, while electricians and HVAC technicians are the roles most in demand on job sites and in operations.

Role (DFW metro)	10th percentile	Median	90th percentile
Network architects	$76,190	$137,900	$186,370
Electrical engineers	$76,720	$124,390	$205,040
Mechanical engineers	$76,530	$105,420	$167,140
Construction managers	$66,580	$103,550	$166,770
Network and systems administrators	$66,780	$103,260	$158,120
Power-line installers and repairers	$46,750	$77,910	$105,680
HVAC mechanics and installers	$40,290	$59,560	$84,880
Electricians	$38,740	$59,010	$81,660

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, shift work and on-call duty.

What the spread means in practice: a critical facilities engineer with electrical or mechanical experience in a live data center can command pay near the 90th percentile, because the pool of people who have run a high-density facility is small. Read our guide on how to hire data center engineers.

Who employs data center talent in DFW

Dallas-headquartered operators

Several of the country’s largest data center companies are based in DFW. DataBank is headquartered in Dallas and is building a 480 MW campus in Red Oak. CyrusOne, also headquartered in Dallas, is building a 200 MW campus in Fort Worth. Aligned has its North American headquarters at its Plano campus.

National operators and hyperscalers

QTS runs campuses in Irving, Fort Worth and South Dallas. STACK has 580 MW across Plano and Lancaster, Skybox a 300 MW campus in Lancaster and NTT DATA a 124 MW campus in Garland. Equinix owns the Dallas Infomart, the region’s main interconnection hub.

Google has data centers in Midlothian and Red Oak, and Meta has invested more than $1.5 billion in its Fort Worth data center.

Architects and engineers

Dallas-based Corgan was ranked the No. 1 data center architecture firm by Building Design + Construction in 2025. Jacobs is headquartered in Dallas, and Burns & McDonnell runs a mission-critical practice from its DFW offices.

MEP and electrical design firms across the metro hire power, cooling and controls engineers for data center work.

Contractors

General and specialty contractors hire project engineers, superintendents, electricians and commissioning agents. DPR Construction built Meta’s Fort Worth data center and Equinix’s DA11 next to the Infomart.

Electrical and mechanical subcontractors are often the tightest constraint on schedules.

Where the campuses are: DFW submarkets

DFW’s data centers started near the Infomart and the Telecom Corridor. The newest and largest campuses are going up south of Dallas and around Fort Worth, where land and power are easier to find.

Southern Dallas County and Ellis County

HyperscaleNew campuses

Red Oak (DataBank 480 MW, Compass 360 MW, Google), Midlothian (Google), Lancaster (STACK and Skybox) and Wilmer (QTS). Red Oak alone is home to seven data centers.

Fort Worth and Alliance

HyperscaleColocation

Meta, QTS (200 MW planned), CyrusOne (200 MW) and Colovore’s planned $430 million campus. The city counts four operating data centers, with six more proposed in Tarrant County.

Richardson, Plano and Allen

ColocationEnterprise

STACK’s 80 MW Plano campus, Aligned’s headquarters and campuses and Skybox Plano, close to the Telecom Corridor’s engineering workforce.

Garland

Colocation

NTT DATA’s 124 MW campus and Digital Realty’s planned $300 million, 10-hall building on Ferris Road.

Dallas core and Irving

InterconnectionColocation

The Equinix Infomart near downtown, QTS Irving and CoreSite’s $200 million Irving project.

What’s slowing the build-out in 2026

A state audit of grid connections. On August 3, 2026, Governor Abbott ordered the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT to audit every data center in the interconnection queue before more can connect. About 300 projects of 75 MW or more are under review, and ERCOT says it will not finish its first large-load study by April 2027.
Permits and water. On September 21, 2026, the governor told the state environmental agency to halt data center permits until the audit is done, and on September 24 the attorney general opened a water-use investigation covering 18 counties, including Dallas and Tarrant.
Power. Oncor had about 298 GW of service requests in the second quarter of 2026, far more than the grid can add quickly. Across Texas, about 474 GW of large loads, roughly 90% of them data centers, have asked to connect.
Labor. More than half of operators in Uptime Institute’s 2026 global survey reported difficulty finding qualified candidates, and Avison Young reports DFW projects bringing skilled labor in from other markets.

Projects that are already leased and connected keep moving. DataBank, for example, closed $2 billion of construction financing in April 2026 for 180 MW in Red Oak that is already leased.

Data center roles in demand

Critical facilities engineers and managers to run live sites around the clock.
Electrical engineers for medium-voltage distribution, substations, UPS and generator systems.
Mechanical engineers for chilled water, liquid cooling and high-density racks.
Commissioning agents to test systems before handover.
Construction project managers and superintendents for campus builds.
Electricians, HVAC technicians and controls technicians for construction and operations.

The talent pipeline

TSTC Red Oak. Texas State Technical College runs a 12-week, 224-hour data center technician pathway in Red Oak and reports a 90% placement rate. Compass Datacenters donated $12.6 million for a 40,000 square foot training facility that opened on June 30, 2026.
UT Arlington. UTA leads a federally funded research project on data center cooling and graduates mechanical and electrical engineers every year.
UT Dallas, SMU and UNT supply electrical, mechanical and computer engineers. See our DFW electrical engineer talent map for enrollment figures.
Dallas College offers cloud and networking programs that feed data center IT operations roles.

What this means if you’re hiring

Hire for leased, connected projects first. The state audit makes timelines uncertain for projects still waiting on power. Projects already leased and connected need people now.
Recruit from adjacent industries. Hospitals, chip fabs, utilities and the military all train people to run critical systems. They are often the fastest route to experienced facilities staff.
Pay for live-site experience. Engineers who have run high-density facilities are scarce. Budget near the top of the ranges above.
Use the training programs. TSTC in Red Oak is producing technicians close to the southern campuses.

Staffing a DFW 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 214.257.7733 or see our Dallas engineering recruiters page.

Hire data center talent

Frequently asked questions

How big is the Dallas-Fort Worth data center market?

CBRE counted 1,432.8 MW of data center capacity in DFW at the end of the second quarter of 2026, the third-largest market in North America after Northern Virginia and Atlanta, with only 39.6 MW available. More than 765 MW was under construction. Brokers measure the market differently, and Cushman & Wakefield ranked Dallas the No. 1 primary data center market in the world in May 2026.

How much do data center engineers make in Dallas?

BLS does not track data center engineers separately. In DFW, electrical engineers earn a median of $124,390 and mechanical engineers $105,420, and experienced critical facilities engineers are often paid near the top of those ranges.

Why did Texas pause data center connections?

In August 2026 the governor ordered an audit of the data centers waiting to connect to the ERCOT grid, after large-load requests grew to about 474 GW. Projects that fail the audit must be denied. ERCOT is aiming for a December 2026 filing.

Where are the new data centers in DFW being built?

Mostly south of Dallas, in Red Oak, Midlothian, Lancaster and Wilmer, and around Fort Worth and Alliance. Garland, Plano and Irving also have large campuses. See our US data center map.

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