A report by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute and the University of Illinois Project for Middle Class Renewal projects that $57 billion in new data center investments through 2035 will generate 121,000 jobs in Illinois, but only 2,800 of those would be direct permanent positions, amounting to $20.2 million in investment per permanent job. The report also estimates data centers will add an average of $12 per month to Illinois residents' utility bills and could generate nearly $300 million in annual property tax revenue if no abatements are offered. The study also put forward 10 policy proposals, following Gov. JB Pritzker's pause of the state's data center tax incentive program, which had delivered an estimated $660 million in tax breaks as of 2025.
The report quantifies a tension that is growing in Illinois and other states: data center tax incentives valued at hundreds of millions of dollars are producing relatively few permanent jobs while imposing measurable energy cost increases on ratepayers. The 10 policy proposals in the report, and the ongoing pause of Illinois's incentive program, could influence how Illinois legislators structure data center regulations when the session resumes, with other states watching as a potential model.
A state-level jobs impact report on Illinois data centers with a specific 120,000 job figure — qualified by the temporary nature of most positions — is a concrete economic impact story with local policy relevance and a newsworthy tension between headline numbers and reality.