Data centers transform Quincy, Washington, and help fund community growth
Microsoft and other data center companies have transformed Quincy, Washington, helping expand the city’s tax base, population and employment. The resulting revenue helped fund new schools, a hospital and other public facilities, while low-cost hydropower and water-reuse projects have helped support continued growth.
Quincy has shifted from a largely agricultural economy to a data center hub since Microsoft and Yahoo began building facilities in the area in 2006. Local officials and residents credit the industry’s expanded assessed value and job base with making major investments possible, including a new high school, hospital, public safety facilities and other civic projects. Data centers account for about 54% of the local school district’s tax base, helping reduce the tax burden on voters who approved a $108 million school bond in 2016.
The Quincy Valley Medical Center also replaced its aging facility with a $55 million hospital that opened in May 2025. Microsoft says it has contributed tens of millions of dollars to an industrial water reuse center that recycles cooling water and reduced potable-water use by an average of 97%. Grant County Public Utility District continues to provide relatively inexpensive hydropower, although the region’s experience is also raising broader questions about electricity demand, environmental impacts and whether similar growth can be managed in communities without Quincy’s land and power advantages.