In June, Business Insider published an investigation into the data center industry. We wanted to dig into the pace of growth in light of the artificial intelligence boom, as well as the resources the facilities use.
We found 1,240 data centers in America already built or approved for construction at the end of 2024 — the most comprehensive tally to date.
After we published our stories, we received requests to distribute our underlying data. Some readers also wanted a map they could use to better inform themselves about data centers in their communities.
The map below shows every data center we found, along with a data table searchable by county, state, zip code, or corporate parent, and sortable by estimated low and high-end electricity use. Select any data center on the map to see more details about the facility, and select any entry in the data table to see the data center on the map.
To create the most complete account yet of the location and power usage of data centers across the United States, we seized on a feature that’s consistent across every single facility: the need for backup power.
Most companies use diesel generators for backup power, and state authorities require those generators to have air permits if they are large enough. We requested air permits from all 50 states and Washington, DC, asking agencies to search permits using industry codes commonly assigned to data centers. We pulled state records, linked hundreds of shell companies to their corporate parents, and took some municipalities to court to obtain public information.
The electricity use range estimated for each facility or collection of facilities is based on a methodology developed by Business Insider. It’s explained in more depth here.
Our aim in making this data available is to better inform the general public, and in doing so, contribute to the ongoing debate over the benefits and drawbacks of such an unprecedented construction boom.
Series credits
About the data: Business Insider used air permits issued to data center backup generators to identify facility location and ownership, and estimate facility power use. We received permits from all but four states, plus Washington, DC. Read more about how we investigated the impact of data center growth here.
Reporting: Hannah Beckler, Dakin Campbell, Daniel Geiger, Rosemarie Ho, Narimes Parakul, Adam Rogers, Ellen Thomas
Editing: Jeffrey Cane, Rosalie Chan, Jason Dean, Esther Kaplan, Jake Swearingen
Research: Darren Ankrom, Schuyler Mitchell, Trey Strange, Yuheng Zhan
Design and visuals: Dan DeLorenzo, Isabel Fernandez-Pujol, Jinpeng Li, Kim Nguyen, Randy Yeip, Rebecca Zisser
Photography: Kendrick Brinson, John David-Richardson, Greg Kahn, Brian Palmer, Jesse Rieser
Video: Robert Leslie, Marco Secci, Erica Berenstein, Tyler Merkel, Whitney Shefte, Alexander Calbi, Paige Clarke, Gary Moon, Reem Makhoul, Ruqayyah Moynihan
Copy editing: Mark Abadi, Kevin Kaplan
