Data centers are headed for the hills. That’s not exactly how the Pew Research Center puts it, but the company says that two-thirds of new data centers are being built in rural areas. Pew Research says that there are more than 3,000 data centers in the United States. That number will increase significantly in the near future, with more than 1,500 new data centers in some stage of development.
The report juxtaposes the current profile of data centers — 87% urban and 13% rural — with the planned additions, which are 67% rural and 33% urban.
The Pew report provides a data center profile of the top 15 states:
- Virginia: 685 total data centers (398 currently operating, 287 planned)
- Texas: 466 total data centers (296 currently operating, 170 planned)
- California: 331 total data centers (277 currently operating, 54 planned)
- Illinois: 262 total data centers (139 currently operating, 123 planned)
- Georgia: 235 total data centers (94 currently operating, 141 planned)
- Ohio: 223 total data centers (166 currently operating, 57 planned)
- Arizona: 184 total data centers (98 currently operating, 86 planned)
- New York: 154 total data centers (148 currently operating, 6 planned)
- Oregon: 142 total data centers (115 currently operating, 27 planned)
- Washington: 135 total data centers (124 currently operating, 11 planned)
- Pennsylvania: 129 total data centers (78 currently operating, 51 planned)
- Florida: 128 total data centers (120 currently operating, 8 planned)
- North Carolina: 113 total data centers (72 currently operating, 41 planned)
- Iowa: 105 total data centers (64 currently operating, 41 planned)
- Indiana: 92 total data centers (38 currently operating, 54 planned)
The research also looked at the proliferation of data centers by region:
- The South has 754 planned data centers and 1,209 existing ones
- The Midwest has 419 planned data centers and 655 existing ones
- The West has 277 planned data centers and 807 existing ones
- The Northeast has 106 planned data centers and 397 existing ones
The research found that 38% of Americans live within five miles of one or more operational data centers. Ninety percent of data centers are built within five miles of each other. This suggests that a majority of Americans who live near one data center live near more than one.
Finally, the research says that 42% of Americans live near an existing or planned data center.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and the need for a presence at the edge of networks is changing the world of data centers. In January, Strand Consult said that the impact of these voracious services drives the need for some form of light regulation.
Speaking at a session at the NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association RTIME conference in San Antonio last year, CoBank Lead Economist of Digital Infrastructure Jeff Johnston said that surplus power and lost cost of land makes rural area for data centers.
