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Building a data center costs about $10.7 million per megawatt (MW) for global-average shell-and-core construction in 2025, according to JLL Research. JLL forecasts $11.3 million per MW for 2026. Those figures cover the building and its core infrastructure—not land, utility-interconnection work outside the building, or active servers and other IT equipment.
Your actual budget can be much higher or lower. Location, available power, capacity, rack density, cooling design, schedule, labor and equipment lead times all move the number. For AI deployments, JLL says tenant technology fit-out can reach $25 million per MW, but that is a possible fit-out cost, not an automatic addition to every facility. A credible estimate therefore shows shell and core, site and power work, and IT fit-out as separate lines.
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What is the best current data-center construction benchmark?
The most defensible starting point is a per-MW benchmark with its scope stated. JLL’s global average is for shell-and-core construction, and its 2026 number is a forecast rather than a final observed price.
| Source and year | Published figure | What it represents | How to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| JLL Research, 2025 | $10.7 million/MW | Global-average shell-and-core construction | Current baseline for early planning; excludes land and active IT equipment |
| JLL Research, 2026 forecast | $11.3 million/MW | Global-average shell-and-core construction | Forward-looking allowance, not a guaranteed project price |
| JLL Research, 2020 | $7.7 million/MW | Global-average shell-and-core construction | Historical comparison point |
| Cushman & Wakefield, 2026 | 21% average increase per MW since its Q4 2024 edition | Construction costs across United States and Canadian markets | Evidence of regional inflation; not a universal all-in rate |
| Currie & Brown, 2024 | $6.7m/MW (2020); $8.8m (2023); $9.2m predicted (2024) | U.S. benchmark series | Useful trend context, but the 2024 value is an old prediction, not a current quote |
Prices and plans in this article were checked November 2026. Every figure above keeps the source’s geography, date and scope.
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JLL’s series rose from $7.7 million per MW in 2020 to $10.7 million in 2025, which it describes as a 7% compound annual growth rate. The increase reflects a market in which electrical equipment, specialist labor and suitable powered sites are increasingly constrained.
How should you interpret a per-MW price?
A per-MW figure is a scaling tool, not a contractor’s quotation. It normally refers to the facility’s planned critical IT load, while the physical building also contains electrical, mechanical, circulation and support areas. Confirm whether a source uses IT load, utility capacity or another basis before comparing rates.
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Do not multiply the $11.3 million forecast by an unspecified capacity and present it as a quote. The calculation becomes useful only after you state the capacity, location, delivery year, cooling approach and scope boundary.
What does shell-and-core include—and what is outside it?
Shell and core is the base building and its primary infrastructure. It is not a commissioned computing environment. Keep these packages separate in the estimate:
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| Budget line | Typical contents to define | Why separation matters |
|---|---|---|
| Shell and core | Structure, envelope, foundations, internal fit-out of the base building, major mechanical and electrical systems and other core infrastructure included by the benchmark | This is the scope behind JLL’s $10.7m/$11.3m per-MW figures |
| Land and site development | Land purchase or lease, surveys, grading, roads, drainage, security perimeter and enabling works | JLL excludes land; site conditions differ too much for a universal allowance |
| Utility and interconnection | Substation, transmission or distribution upgrades, utility fees, easements and the owner’s connection works | “Power available” can mean very different amounts of off-site work and elapsed time |
| Tenant technology fit-out | Servers, accelerators, storage, network fabric, racks, cabling, controls and commissioning of the IT environment | JLL says AI technology fit-out can reach $25m/MW; it is a possible tenant cost, not a required add-on |
| Professional and financing costs | Design, permitting, project management, legal, insurance, commissioning, contingency and financing | These must be priced for the project; they are not supplied by the global shell benchmark |
Ask every estimator to identify owner-supplied equipment and contractor-supplied equipment. Otherwise the same item may be counted twice—or omitted because one party assumed the other was buying it.
How much can location change the cost?
Location is a first-order variable because land, labor, taxes, logistics, utility infrastructure and permitting are local. JLL’s comparison for a single-tenant 50-MW, air-cooled shell-and-core facility puts Tokyo at $18 million per MW and Mumbai at $7 million per MW. That is a $11 million-per-MW spread before land or active IT equipment.
On the stated assumptions, the arithmetic shell-and-core totals would be $900 million in Tokyo (50 × $18 million) and $350 million in Mumbai (50 × $7 million). These are illustrations of the published comparison, not bids for a site in either city. A different tenant profile, density, building form or delivery date would change the result.
JLL also says to add 20% to construction costs for multistory facilities in the Americas in that market table. Treat that as an assumption within the cited benchmark—not a rule that applies to every multistory project worldwide.
How much do AI workloads and cooling add?
AI changes the budget through both equipment density and heat rejection. JLL reports that tenants may spend as much as $25 million per MW on AI technology fit-out. The word “may” matters: the figure describes a possible tenant package, not the cost of every AI facility and not a universal percentage uplift to shell and core.
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JLL’s market assumptions apply a 10% construction premium for liquid-cooled facilities. Liquid cooling can require different heat-exchanger, piping, controls and maintenance arrangements. Compare an air-cooled and liquid-cooled concept on the same MW basis, redundancy level and scope before using the premium; do not combine it automatically with the $25m/MW technology figure.
Density should be stated in the brief. Two buildings with the same nominal MW can have very different rack power, floor loading, busway, distribution and cooling requirements. Specify expected rack density, growth allowance, redundancy target and whether the MW is initial load or ultimate build-out.
Why are data-center costs and schedules under pressure?
Power availability often determines whether a site is viable at all. JLL writes that “Speed to power is the primary criteria driving site selection, followed by community support, latency and proximity to customers.” A cheaper parcel can become the more expensive choice if the utility connection arrives years later or requires major upgrades.
Supply-chain and labor conditions add exposure. JLL points to extended lead times and limited skilled trades; Turner & Townsend likewise describes the AI build-out as a strain on construction supply chains. Long-lead transformers, switchgear, generators, chillers and specialist controls can force early procurement, escalation allowances or design substitutions.
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A free scan shows the junk files, broken settings and background clutter dragging Windows down - then fixes them in one click.Free scan · Windows 10 & 11Cushman & Wakefield’s 2026 announcement reports an average 21% per-MW construction-cost increase across U.S. and Canadian markets since its Q4 2024 edition. That statistic is a market-level change, not a promise that your project will rise by exactly 21%; contract timing, location, procurement and scope determine the project’s exposure.
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How do you build a project-specific data-center budget?
Start with the information an estimator needs. A useful concept budget can follow these steps:
- State the capacity basis. Record initial and ultimate IT load in MW, expected rack density, growth phases and the redundancy target. Say explicitly whether every rate is per MW of IT load or another capacity measure.
- Fix the site and power assumption. Identify city and country, parcel status, utility provider, delivered voltage, available firm capacity, interconnection scope and the date power is expected to be usable.
- Choose the building form. Note single-story or multistory construction, floor loading, white-space area, support rooms and expansion strategy. If you use JLL’s Americas multistory adjustment, label it as that benchmark’s assumption.
- Define cooling and density. Select air, liquid or hybrid cooling; document rack-level heat loads, water strategy, climate assumptions and redundancy. Apply JLL’s 10% liquid-cooling premium only as a stated planning assumption.
- Draw the procurement boundary. List what the developer, general contractor, utility and tenant each supply. Put servers, accelerators, storage and network equipment in a separate technology-fit-out schedule.
- Price time and escalation. Set a construction start, energization date and commissioning sequence. Obtain lead-time information for major electrical and mechanical equipment and carry explicit escalation and contingency rather than hiding them in a single rate.
- Obtain trade-level validation. Have local civil, structural, electrical, mechanical, utility and commissioning specialists reconcile the concept against current bids or published regional data. A global benchmark is a sanity check, not a substitute for a site estimate.
What illustrative budgets can—and cannot—tell you
Illustrative multiplication is useful for understanding scale:
- 10 MW at JLL’s 2025 global shell-and-core average: $107 million before land, external power work and active IT equipment.
- 10 MW at JLL’s 2026 forecast: $113 million on the same shell-only basis.
- 50 MW Tokyo comparison: $900 million shell and core under JLL’s single-tenant, air-cooled assumption.
- 50 MW Mumbai comparison: $350 million shell and core under the same stated assumption.
These examples deliberately do not add the $25 million-per-MW AI fit-out figure. That amount is a possible tenant technology package and should be modeled only when the equipment list, density and procurement plan justify it. Nor do the examples include land, utility upgrades, financing, professional fees or contingency.
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Use JLL’s $10.7 million per MW when you need a 2025 global shell-and-core baseline, and its $11.3 million forecast when planning a 2026 delivery under the same broad scope. Then replace the global rate with a location-specific study as soon as you know the market. For North American work, Cushman & Wakefield’s reported 21% increase signals that older allowances may be stale; Currie & Brown’s 2024 predicted $9.2 million per MW should remain historical context, not a current price.
Present at least three scenarios: a base case, a high-cost case for constrained power or liquid cooling, and a lower-cost case with a readily powered site and simpler design. For each, show capacity, year, city, cooling, redundancy, scope inclusions and exclusions. That format lets an investment committee see whether a change is caused by design, market or accounting boundary.
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What are the most common budgeting mistakes?
- Calling shell and core “the data-center cost.” Fix it by putting land, interconnection and IT fit-out on separate lines.
- Mixing years. A 2020 or predicted-2024 rate is not a 2026 quote. Put the publication year beside every benchmark.
- Comparing unlike capacities. Confirm the MW basis, density and whether the building is single-story or multistory.
- Adding every premium together. JLL’s 10% liquid-cooling and 20% Americas multistory adjustments belong to specific assumptions; they are not universal stackable rules.
- Ignoring power schedule. Request written utility milestones and identify interim generation or phased energization costs.
- Leaving equipment ownership vague. Create an owner-furnished-equipment matrix before tenders are issued.
- Using one-point certainty. Carry ranges and explain the drivers so a delayed transformer or changed rack density does not appear as an unexplained surprise.
Bottom line
A sensible 2026 starting point is $10.7 million per MW for 2025 global-average shell and core, or JLL’s $11.3 million-per-MW 2026 forecast. Neither is an all-in data-center price. The defensible budget is the one that identifies the site, power path, capacity basis, cooling and building form, then prices land, utility work, shell and core, tenant IT and professional costs separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a 1 MW data center cost?
Using JLL’s global shell-and-core benchmarks, 1 MW equates to $10.7 million on the 2025 average or $11.3 million on the 2026 forecast basis. Those are planning arithmetic only and exclude land, external power work and active IT equipment.
Is land included in a data-center construction estimate?
Not in JLL’s published shell-and-core benchmark. Land purchase or lease, site preparation and off-site utility connections should be commissioned and reported as separate budget lines.
Why can two data centers with the same MW capacity have different prices?
MW does not describe rack density, redundancy, building height, cooling method, local labor or the amount of utility construction required. A liquid-cooled, multistory AI facility in a constrained power market can therefore cost materially more than an air-cooled single-story facility with power already at the site.
When should a developer replace a benchmark with a detailed estimate?
As soon as a candidate site, utility path, delivery year and workload density are known. At that point, local design and trade estimates can test the benchmark against actual interconnection scope, equipment lead times, permitting and procurement responsibilities.
