Texas data center workforce housing in 2026: where the beds are going

2026-10-19 · data centers · Texas

Row of factory-built crew housing units on a Texas job site

Texas has more large data center campuses under construction than any other state. One 2026 industry report counted 17 large campuses under construction in Texas totaling about 14.2 GW, with roughly 52,300 construction workers at peak. Most of those campuses are in counties with a few thousand residents.

The projects driving demand

Abilene (Taylor County): the Stargate campus. About 6,000 workers were reported in early 2026.
Albany (Shackelford County): Vantage’s Frontier campus, 1.4 GW. About 9,300 workers checked in during one week in October 2026 (Albany News).
Amarillo (Carson County): Fermi America’s Project Matador. The company has talked about up to 14,500 temporary workers over a 10–15 year buildout, though vertical construction paused in February 2026 pending an air permit.
Sweetwater, Afton, Claude, Milam County, El Paso: more gigawatt-class campuses, each reported under construction.
Pecos and Fort Stockton: proposed campuses plus power plants.

See all of them on the project tracker.

Where crews are living

In Abilene, the answer is RV parks, motels, and anything for rent. The city approved a temporary park-model park of about 957 spaces in January 2026. Elmdale RV Park east of town advertises 2,300 monthly sites at $675 including utilities. A nearby cottage park lists 399-square-foot one-bedroom units at $1,850 a month.

Camp operators are also signing large contracts. Target Hospitality announced more than $1.4 billion of 2026 contracts covering over 9,000 beds, including data center communities in North Texas and Pecos.

What this means if you’re building

If you are a contractor or sub, assume beds near the gate are taken. Your options are to pay an operator, house crews an hour away, or own the housing. On a multi-year job, owning usually costs less. Run the numbers in the cost-per-bed calculator and see data center workforce housing.

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