The electrician shortage is described as the leading constraint on data-center construction. Here is the licensed supply in the states carrying the most large-load projects.
Across the data-center corridor states, the registers show 352,198 licensed electricians as of 2026-08-09 (910,955 nationally).
| State | Licensed electricians | Master level | Per 100k |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 236,141 | 18,593 | 774.1 |
| California | 83,027 | 0 | 213.1 |
| Virginia | 17,835 | 11,961 | 204.6 |
| Arizona | 5,245 | 0 | 70.6 |
| Ohio | 3,515 | 0 | 29.8 |
| Iowa | 3,328 | 379 | 103.8 |
| Nevada | 1,792 | 0 | 56.1 |
| Nebraska | 1,315 | 0 | 66.5 |
| Illinois | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
New licenses, ladder upgrades, classification changes and lapses, by market and credential tier. Read the quarterly free, or license the underlying data.