The U.S. States Building The Most Data Centers

Data center construction is accelerating across the U.S. as demand for AI, cloud computing, and digital services continues to climb.

This article was written by Tasmin Lockwood and originally published by Visual Capitalist.

This surge is shifting where new infrastructure gets built—and which states are poised to dominate in the years ahead.

This graphic ranks states by their total pipeline of data centers, including operational sites, projects under construction, and announced developments. The data comes from Aterio, as of March 2026.

Texas Is Set to Overtake Virginia in Data Centers

Texas is on track to surpass Virginia as the top U.S. data center hub, with a projected 962 total sites across operational, under-construction, and announced projects.

Currently, Texas has just 212 operating data centers and 140 under construction.

The data table below shows the number of current, in construction, and announced data centers in each U.S. state:

Knocked to the second spot, Virginia would be home to 954 data centers. It currently has 320 operational sites and 136 under construction.

Aterio categorizes projects as announced when there is a building permit, utility filing, or public announcement for a data center that hasn’t yet broken ground. When it does, the company swaps the project to under construction.

It takes around two years to build such a facility, though this is highly dependent on the size, chosen site, and permitting.

Data Center Growth in Other U.S. States

While Texas and Virginia are miles ahead of others on both current and prospective data centers, the rankings of states beneath them are set to change substantially.

California and Ohio are the only two other states that have operational data centers topping 100, at 166 and 101, respectively. However, California looks to be in eighth place for the most future data centers, with a total of 212. Ohio would be number six, at 250 data centers.

Georgia is emerging as one of the fastest-growing data center hubs in the country. Its pipeline of 340 announced projects alone is more than five times its current number of operational facilities. Pennsylvania will also experience skyrocketing growth, at 594.6%, as it moves from 37 data centers to a possible 257.

New Hampshire, the District Of Columbia, Rhode Island, Hawaii and Vermont each have no data centers under construction or announced.

Interestingly, Vermont and New Hampshire are among the 11 states that are considering a moratorium or restrictions on the construction of new data centers. Vermont currently has just one operational data center, while New Hampshire has six.

How Energy Access Influences Location

Access to power is becoming the biggest constraint on data center expansion, increasingly determining which states can support new development. As the best sites are snapped up and the data center industry shows few signs of slowing, developers will be forced to look at different locations.

To work around power constraints, some developers are securing dedicated energy sources or co-locating new generation alongside data centers—further shaping where future hubs can emerge.

Disused industrial sites that already have a connection to the grid are also catching the eyes of developers, as they can bypass some of these challenges.