The states with the fewest and most data centers, ranked

The data center business is booming in the US, and some states are feeling it more than others.

Data centers, which house the computing machines that power digital services, have been around for decades.

However, the amount of computing power required to fuel the AI boom has accelerated their development and brought the industry into the mainstream.

This ranking was compiled by analyzing data from Data Center Map, an industry source that maps data center locations around the world.

It shows a snapshot of its US database as of October 2026.

Business Insider limited this ranking to fully operational data centers.

Data Center Map compiles its data from multiple sources and mainly tracks cloud and colocation service providers.

Each data center it tracks has to have an initial capacity of at least 10 cabinets.

While some states have hyperscale AI data centers, others have relatively small operations.

Firstly, data center operators and service providers add their own listings to market themselves.

Data Center Map also monitors external databases and manually identifies any missing operators.

It also handles requests from users who identify missing or outdated listings.

There is no federal requirement for data centers to register in a central database, so the figures should not be interpreted as a complete census of every data center in the country.

Data Center Map also says it has a “more limited coverage on enterprise and government data centers.” Last year, Business Insider created its own US data centers map, which included estimated power usage, as part of an investigation into the industry.

Here are the states with the most operational data centers, ranked from least to most.