Query verified U.S. private construction spending ($ millions) for data centers and semiconductor/computer-electronics manufacturing plants, from the U.S. Census Bureau's Value of Construction Put in Place (C30).
Use this for "how much is being spent BUILDING data centers (or chip fabs) in the US" questions —
the construction buildout in dollars, not capacity or investment. Filter by `category`
("data_center" — Census's named subcategory under Office; or "computer_electronic_electrical" — the
semiconductor/computer-electronics manufacturing line under Manufacturing), `basis`
("seasonally_adjusted" = a seasonally-adjusted ANNUAL RATE, or "not_seasonally_adjusted" = the
NOT-adjusted MONTHLY LEVEL), `data_month` (one month, ISO first-of-month e.g. "2026-04-01") or the
`data_month_from`/`data_month_to` range, `year`, and `revision_status` ("preliminary", "revised", or
"final"). Group by any of `category`, `basis`, `data_month`, `year`, or `revision_status`. Pass each
parameter as a top-level key of `params` (flat — not nested under a `filter`, `filters`, or `where`
key). Example: `{"category": "data_center", "basis": "seasonally_adjusted", "data_month":
"2026-04-01"}` for one month; add `"group_by": ["data_month"]` over a `data_month_from`/`data_month_to`
range for a series. Returns JSON aggregates with citations and optional row-level records when
`include_records` is true — every value cites the exact Census workbook, sheet, row, and column.
The two categories are DISTINCT series and are never conflated: `data_center` is data-center
buildings; `computer_electronic_electrical` is the chip/electronics-manufacturing (fab) line — the
CHIPS-Act build-out. `basis` is the other fork: the seasonally-adjusted series is an ANNUAL RATE
(what the current monthly pace annualizes to), while the not-seasonally-adjusted series is the actual
MONTHLY LEVEL. `revision_status` carries Census's own preliminary/revised/final marking verbatim.
Data is monthly; the data-center series begins 2014-01. The response `as_of` is the release vintage
(Census revises monthly); pin `as_of` to an earlier vintage to reproduce what was served then.
NOT additive: `construction_spending_musd` is a published per-(category, basis, month) reading, so a
total that mixes the two bases (an annual rate + a monthly level), or that sums the seasonally-adjusted
ANNUAL-RATE series across months, is not a real figure — such a result carries a
`construction_aggregation` scope note and ranking remainders omit the metric. Filter to one `basis`
and `group_by data_month` for a series over time.
Does not determine total data-center INVESTMENT (servers, chips, cooling, equipment — this is
construction put-in-place only; Census does not publish an investment total), data-center MW capacity,
count, square footage, or location (use the power.* capabilities for capacity and the interconnection
queue), which company or project is building (Census C30 has no operator breakdown), public or
government construction (this is PRIVATE construction only), or construction outside these two categories.
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