Musk’s Data Centers Deliver A Payday That’s Hard To Argue With

Memphis Democrat Mayor Paul Young has backed up Elon Musk’s boast about the tax dollars flowing from his data center project, and the numbers are huge.

Young was asked about Musk’s claim that the Bluff City is “booming” because of data centers. He said the project generated a whopping $54 million in taxes this year alone.

That’s more than double last year’s haul.

“I think this year was 54 million dollars in taxes that have been generated,” Young told reporters. “And I know last year when they generated about 25 million dollars in tax revenue, it was the second largest taxpaying property in Shelby County.”

“I don’t know where 54 million dollars puts it, but it is significant taxes,” the mayor added.

Musk made the claim Nov. 6 at the 33rd Annual Baron Investment Conference in New York City, where he brushed off the growing backlash against AI data centers.

“The lack of popularity is where there aren’t data centers and they think the data center will have a bad effect,” the billionaire said. “But in Memphis, you know, Memphis is booming because of SpaceX. The restaurants are full. The hotels are full. We’re paying at times twice the prevailing wage that people were earning before.”

Asked why nobody writes about it, Musk shot back: “There are some stories.”

“We’ve also helped out with local schools, and the tax revenue that the county and the city are earning is tremendous,” he said. He predicted the “popularity thing” would prove “a temporary concern because there actually is tremendous prosperity that’s brought by the data centers.”

“If you talk to the people in town, they all feel it because their businesses are booming,” Musk said.

Young welcomed the economic benefits while acknowledging residents’ concerns.

“Of course, there’s an economic side,” Young said. “We want to make sure that we are articulating what protections and guardrails we’re putting in place for the environmental sides that people are concerned about, the quality of life, noise, traffic, all of those aspects.”

“As we look at the tax revenue, we also want to look at how do we ensure that there are proper protections,” he said. He noted that’s the point of his 90-day executive order, and “the conversation that we’ll continue to have with the community.”

Memphis isn’t the only place cashing in.

A PwC study commissioned by the Data Center Coalition found the sector supported 5.5 million jobs nationwide in 2024, up 17% from 4.7 million the year before. Its direct contribution to GDP jumped 10%, from $274.7 billion to $301.7 billion.

A U.S. Chamber of Commerce report released last month estimated that in a best-case scenario like Dallas County, Texas, a single 50-megawatt data center could generate $174 million in tax revenue over five years. That’s roughly $34.8 million a year.

In Memphis, Young says the debate over protections will continue. But the tax dollars are already rolling in.

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