Talent Maps / Raleigh / Data Center Engineers

Raleigh Data Center Engineer Talent Map (2026)

The Triangle pays data center engineers well, but most of its towns have paused new data centers. Here is what data center engineers and technicians earn, who employs them, where the sites 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 Raleigh-Cary metro area, with Research Triangle Park and Durham as a submarket. Pay figures come from the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey (May 2025) for the Raleigh-Cary metro, and market figures from operators, county governments, the NC Department of Revenue and local news reports. Our data center recruiters update it as new data comes out. See also our North Carolina data center tracker and our Raleigh electrical, mechanical and controls engineer talent maps.

$130,240Median electrical engineer pay in metro Raleigh, against $110,130 across North CarolinaBLS, May 2025

40 MWTotal IT capacity at CyrusOne’s DUR1-DUR2 campus in Research Triangle ParkCyrusOne

250 MWNatelli’s proposed New Hill Digital Campus in Apex, withdrawn in March 2026WRAL, March 2026

18 monthsLength of the data center moratorium Cary approved in August 2026WUNC, September 2026

1,350Acres Microsoft bought in Person County for future data center developmentPerson County, February 2026

~6 GWNew capacity Duke Energy forecast it would need for large loads such as data centers, as of May 2025Canary Media, September 2025

Data center pay in Raleigh 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. Raleigh pays its electrical engineers a median of $130,240, well above the North Carolina median of $110,130 and the national median of $120,630. Information security analysts are the best-paid role in the table at the median.

Role (Raleigh metro)	10th percentile	Median	90th percentile
Electrical engineers	$73,380	$130,240	$221,050
Information security analysts	$78,870	$143,640	$168,050
Network architects	$74,540	$120,640	$173,910
Construction managers	$78,010	$119,700	$182,990
Network and systems administrators	$60,650	$103,380	$161,220
Mechanical engineers	$59,220	$100,000	$160,170
HVAC mechanics and installers	$39,160	$58,900	$77,830
Electricians	$45,700	$56,800	$73,760

Annual pay, Raleigh-Cary metro. 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 $73,380 at the 10th percentile to $221,050 at the 90th. Experienced critical power engineers sit at the top of that range. Durham-Chapel Hill, which includes most of Research Triangle Park, pays electrical engineers a similar median of $129,030. Mechanical engineers earn less than in many data center markets, with a Raleigh median of $100,000. Read our guide on how to hire data center engineers.

Who employs data center talent in Raleigh

Colocation operators

CyrusOne’s DUR1-DUR2 campus in Research Triangle Park has 40 MW of total IT capacity. DUR1 has 92,320 square feet of raised floor across eleven data halls, and the DUR2 shell was delivered in 2025.

TierPoint runs a site of more than 70,000 square feet on TW Alexander Drive with six 2 MW generators, plus a second Raleigh data center. Flexential’s Morrisville site has 99,976 square feet and 4.31 MW of critical power.

Hyperscale campuses north of the Triangle

Microsoft bought 1,350 acres in Person County in October 2024 and planned to start permitting for data center development in 2026.

In Vance County, Natelli Holdings filed a development plan in September 2026 for a site along U.S. 158 near Henderson that the county rezoned in April.

Edge developers

RadiusDC planned a 100,000 square foot, $180 million data center on 13 acres at Jones Sausage Road in southeast Raleigh. The annexation request was withdrawn in August 2026, but the company says it remains under contract for the land and is not abandoning the project.

Power equipment makers

Siemens Energy is investing $421 million and creating 500 jobs in North Carolina, with grid technology project execution, research and development in Raleigh. Duke Energy’s forecast for new large loads such as data centers rose from 3.9 GW in early 2024 to almost 6 GW by May 2025.

Where the sites are: Raleigh submarkets

Research Triangle Park

ColocationEstablished

CyrusOne’s DUR1-DUR2 campus and TierPoint’s TW Alexander Drive site, both in Durham.

Morrisville

Colocation

Flexential’s McCrimmon Parkway data center near RDU airport.

Southeast Raleigh and Garner

EdgeProposed

RadiusDC’s Jones Sausage Road site, on land already zoned for industrial mixed use.

Person County

HyperscalePlanned

Microsoft’s 1,350-acre megasite on the Virginia border, north of Durham.

Vance County

CampusPlanned

Natelli’s site along U.S. 158 near Henderson, where the developer filed a plan in September 2026.

What stands in the way in 2026

Moratoriums. Cary approved an 18-month pause in August 2026 and plans an ordinance decision by February 2028. Apex, Wendell, Durham, Durham County, Orange County and Chatham County also have pauses, and Raleigh’s council is set to vote on a six-month moratorium on October 6.
Withdrawn projects. Natelli withdrew its 250 MW New Hill Digital Campus in Apex in March 2026. It would have had six 70-foot buildings and about 80 3 MW generators.
Taxes. North Carolina repealed the sales tax exemption on electricity used at certified data centers. Tax applies to billing periods starting on or after August 6, 2026. Exemptions for data center equipment remain.
Power. Duke Energy’s large-load forecast rose to almost 6 GW by May 2025, and the NC Utilities Commission opened a proceeding on large loads in June 2025.
Water and noise. Cary staff flagged cooling water use, generator noise and grid capacity as issues to study during its moratorium.

The talent pipeline

Wake Tech. Its Network and Cloud Administration program includes data center courses such as CTI-260 Data Center Troubleshooting. The older Cloud Infrastructure degree, which used a student data center funded by a National Science Foundation grant, is no longer taking new students.
Research Triangle Park. RTP has more than 55,000 employees at more than 385 companies, a large pool of network, IT and facilities staff.
Adjacent trades. The Triangle has no dedicated data center technician degree, so electrical, HVAC and networking programs supply most technicians. See our Raleigh electrical engineer talent map.
State context. Most large new North Carolina campuses are outside the Triangle. See our North Carolina data center tracker.

What this means if you’re hiring

Expect high electrical pay. Raleigh’s electrical engineer median is about $27,000 above Charlotte’s. Engineers in the Triangle will not take a cut to move.
Plan for travel. The biggest planned campuses are in Person and Vance counties, so construction teams may come from Raleigh and Durham on a commute.
Pay up for security roles. Information security analysts earn a median of $143,640, and RTP’s tech employers hire from the same pool.
Watch the moratoriums. Most pauses run into 2027. Hire first for operating sites and projects outside the paused towns.

Staffing a Raleigh 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 919.710.8098 or see our Raleigh engineering recruiters page.

Hire data center talent

Frequently asked questions

How big is the Raleigh-Durham data center market?

Small next to Charlotte or the western Piedmont. Most operating capacity sits in a few colocation sites, led by CyrusOne’s 40 MW campus in Research Triangle Park and Flexential’s 4.31 MW site in Morrisville. The largest planned campuses are outside Wake and Durham counties, in Person and Vance counties.

How much do data center engineers make in Raleigh?

BLS does not track data center engineers separately. In metro Raleigh, electrical engineers earn a median of $130,240, mechanical engineers $100,000 and network architects $120,640.

Does Raleigh pay more than Charlotte for data center talent?

For electrical roles, yes. Electrical engineers earn a median of $130,240 in metro Raleigh and $103,360 in metro Charlotte. Charlotte pays more for mechanical engineers ($101,950 against $100,000) and network architects ($134,410 against $120,640). See our Charlotte data center talent map and our US data center map.

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