St. Joseph City Council learns about data centers in Altoona, Iowa

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV) -- The St. Joseph City Council recently visited Altoona, Iowa, to learn more about how data centers have affected the city.

Altoona, Iowa, is a city of over 22,000 residents. While it's smaller than St. Joseph, we are still able to learn about how they have been impacted by the data centers.

In November of 2014, Meta opened its first building in Altoona. Since then, they have seen nothing but growth for the town.

According to the annual 2024 report from Altoona, they saw a 17.5% increase in its population since 2020.

In 2024, 186 new single-family residential building permits were issued. This was a 33% increase from 2023 and an estimated value of $43 million.

84 commercial permits were issued for new businesses, additions, and alterations. This was valued at $38 million in 2024.

According to Meta, they have invested $2.5 billion in Iowa. They brought over 400 job opportunities and had 1,300 trade workers constructing the building.

$4.2 million has been directly funded into the Polk County-area schools and non-profits. Meta has also awarded over 250 grants and sponsorships locally since 2015.