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Yeah, those Evil Data Centers that are "Destroying" Rural America . . . can actually SAVE Endangered Rural Communities

Yes. Ellendale is a very interesting case because the economic effects are unusually large data center development relative to the size of the town. But it is also important to distinguish what has already happened from what the mayor and Applied Digital expect to happen after construction ends.

Ellendale, North Dakota: before and after the data center

Before Applied Digital arrived, Ellendale had been shrinking for decades. Its population fell from 1,559 in 2000 to 1,394 in 2010, and the 2020 Census counted roughly 1,160 people. Census-based estimates put it around 1,100 today. In other words, the town lost roughly 25% of its population over about 20 years before the current data-center boom. (Wikipedia)

Applied Digital began developing its Ellendale operation in the early 2020s. The current Polaris Forge 1 AI campus is being expanded into a very large complex. Recent reporting describes the ultimately planned campus as approximately 2.5 million square feet and 400 MW, with total investment associated with the development reaching roughly $11 billion. (San Francisco Chronicle)

The most dramatic change is city revenue. Mayor Don Flaherty says Ellendale used to collect about $400,000 per year in sales-tax revenue. During just the first seven months of 2026, it collected approximately $3.5 million. That means seven months of revenue was nearly nine times an entire pre-data-center year. (San Francisco Chronicle)

The construction-worker effect is enormous. Flaherty told the San Francisco Chronicle that the influx of workers “basically triples the population of our town.” That does not mean Ellendale's permanent Census population has tripled. Most of those people are temporary construction workers living in temporary housing, hotels or surrounding communities. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Permanent jobs may matter more than the construction boom

This is probably the number most relevant to judging whether Ellendale's recovery lasts.

In formal testimony to the North Dakota Legislature in March 2026, Mayor Flaherty said the housing expansion was being designed to accommodate approximately 150–250 workers and their families who are expected to become permanent residents of Ellendale during the next five years.

Other estimates place eventual full-time employment at the larger campus in the 200–400 job range. (San Francisco Chronicle)

For a town of only about 1,100 people, even 200 permanent jobs would be extraordinary. If many employees actually move into Ellendale with spouses and children, the population impact could be substantial.

Housing is already responding

This is one of the clearest indications that the economic effects aren't confined to the data-center property.

Ellendale created the Ellendale Acres TIF district in 2025 specifically to finance roads, water and sewer for new housing required by the data-center workforce. Mayor Flaherty reported in March 2026 that:

20 single-family homes had already been built, multifamily housing was being developed, and another 20 single-family homes were planned in Phase 3.

Applied Digital and local/state partners have been involved in financing more than 50 housing units overall. (San Francisco Chronicle)

The flip side is that demand has overwhelmed the existing supply. Nearby rents have reportedly doubled in some cases, hotel rooms have become difficult to find, and temporary worker camps have appeared. (San Francisco Chronicle)

The city is suddenly able to undertake projects it could not afford before

The surge in revenue means Ellendale is now planning or funding projects including:

street repaving, renovation of its senior center, a new public-safety complex, walking trails and refurbishment of its historic opera house. (San Francisco Chronicle)

That is one of the strongest arguments made by supporters of data centers in small communities: even if a data center doesn't employ thousands of people once completed, the tax base generated by a very capital-intensive facility can be transformational for a town with only 1,000 residents.

Counties that build data centers are seeing new housing, higher home values, lower unemployment and more job growth… pic.twitter.com/E6OLtKLLMZ

— Sara Eisen (@SaraEisen) August 11, 2026

What Ellendale really demonstrates

I think the strongest defensible case is this:

Before: Ellendale was a roughly 1,100-person agricultural town that had lost about a quarter of its population over two decades, with about $400,000 a year in municipal sales-tax revenue and limited resources for major infrastructure.

Today: A multibillion-dollar data-center development has generated such a construction boom that temporary workers can roughly triple the number of people in town, sales-tax collections reached $3.5 million in only seven months, dozens of homes are being constructed, major municipal projects are being financed, and 150–250 permanent workers plus families are expected to settle there. (San Francisco Chronicle)

The big unanswered question is **what Ellendale looks like in 2030 after most of the construction workers leave.**That's when we'll know whether this was primarily a construction boom or a genuine reversal of decades of population decline.

For your data-center work in Ohio, Ellendale is probably one of the strongest pro-data-center examples I've seen, precisely because it shows something that a project near Columbus or Northern Virginia can't easily demonstrate: what a large data center can mean to a genuinely declining rural community.

Ten striking Ohio small-town population declines, 2000–2025

These figures come from the Census Bureau’s 2000 place counts and its Vintage 2025 incorporated-place estimates.