Iron Mountain CO-1

Denver's economy combines aerospace and defense (Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Ball Aerospace, the surrounding Space Force presence at Buckley), oil and gas (Anadarko, Encana legacy companies), telecom (CenturyLink/Lumen headquarters), and a growing tech and outdoor-products sector. Data centers slot in as a regional connectivity hub serving the Mountain West — 13 tracked facilities, with roughly 1,500 NAICS 518 jobs (estimated). This is a mid-tier wholesale and colo market, not a hyperscaler concentration.

The trades data has an unusual wrinkle for Denver: HVAC technicians earn $71,580 median, while electricians earn $63,150 — a reversal of the usual pattern. The 4,360-worker HVAC pool benefits from year-round heating, cooling, and high-altitude HVAC complexity demand across the broader region. The 11,510 maintenance and repair workforce earns $52,450, comfortably above national medians. Network admins clear $105,090 and IT managers $203,340.

For a trades worker, Denver is one of the few metros where HVAC techs out-earn electricians, making it an unusually appealing market for someone in or considering HVAC work. The overall data center footprint is moderate, but the parallel aerospace and telecom infrastructure creates plenty of facility tech opportunities outside pure data center work.