Data center construction spending outpaces office market for the first time

Data center construction spending surpassed office spending for the first time in December 2025, totaling roughly $3.5B for the month, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

The Census figures exclude racks and servers; the data accounts for only structural construction. Thus, the figures include accounting of physical footprints, not equipment spending. 

The acceleration of data center growth in the back half of 2024 and into 2025 is impressive, notes industry analyst Paul Kedrosky. “The curve isn't linear: it steepened sharply as hyperscaler capex commitments made in 2023 and early 2024 translated into actual ground-breaking,” he says.

Meanwhile, office construction has fallen about 35% from its 2020 peak. The office decline has no obvious bottom, Kedrosky writes. “Remote and hybrid work permanently destroyed a layer of demand that is not coming back,” he says. “And AI is changing the shape and scope of future white-collar work.”