More than 4,500 data centers are already in operation, according to Data Center Map, a site that tracks data centers in the U.S. He said during the conference, “We’ll roll over the opposition to data centers faster than we otherwise should.” Brookings Institution researchers analyzed 770 data centers, comparing counties with a large data center to counties without one. More permanent job growth depends heavily on whether the data center is a server warehouse or a hyperscale data center campus — the former produces more modest job growth than the latter. Most proposed data centers are also being targeted in drought-stricken areas, according to a June analysis by The Guardian of data from the federal government and Cleanview, a market intelligence company that tracks data centers.