Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia

Data centers are expanding into rural America. At a May 11, 2026 event hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, expert practitioners and researchers explored data center expansion in rural communities, including topics such as:

• potential economic costs and benefits of data center development;
• workforce opportunities and skilled labor considerations;
• regional competitiveness and community preparation strategies; and
• real-world perspectives from communities experiencing this trend.

[May 11, 2026]

In this research brief, we use labor force participation and unemployment rates from 2014 to 2018 as indicators for labor market attachment, and we find disparities along these indicators based on patterns of broadband access and computer use. By analyzing patterns of broadband access, computer use, and disparities in labor market outcomes, we find that:

This report provides an overview of the digital divide in the Third Federal Reserve District, with a focus on determining which groups stand to benefit the most from a concerted effort toward digital inclusion. The report describes patterns of broadband availability and adoption for the Third District (eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Delaware) as a whole, followed by a regional comparison of digital access using a typology of broadband.