US data center map & rankings, tracked by state
Tracking one of the largest infrastructure effors in US history, with state-by-state data on where the buildout stands today — and where moratoria and permitting momentum are making it harder to build next.
Spark's unique county- and state-level dataset tracks more than 20,000 infrastructure projects, including the 6,314 data centers already approved, under construction, and in operation across the US. We've built our nationwide dataset bottom-up from local permitting and construction records tracked across all 3,000+ US counties, giving the most complete picture available of data center locations and us data centers by state.
6,314
Data centers filed, in construction, or operating
870 permits filed in H1 2026 alone (+58% year-over-year)
77%
National approval rate, H1 2026
-10 pts vs 87% in H1 2025
+22%
National permit-filing growth rate (H1 2025 vs H1 2026)
552 filed in H1 2025 vs 870 in H1 2026
Texas
#1 ranked state
Holding the top spot since 2024
Executive summary
Where are data centers located across the US? The ranking below draws straight from Spark's live buildout data, state by state.
Texas has been the #1 ranked state since 2024, with a Spark Data Center Score of 91, up 4 points since Jan 1. The 2nd-highest ranked state, Virginia, has fallen 2 points over the same time period.
In the first two quarters of this year, the top 5 has shifted: Arizona climbed from #15 to #3 on a near-90% approval rate in the period, while Ohio dropped out, falling from #4 to #29 as moratoria spread to 23% of its counties.
The national approval rate for data center permits has fallen almost 10 percentage points between the first halves of 2025 and 2026, from 87.1% to 77.4%. That's the lowest rate for US permit approvals since we started tracking in 2021.
New York has the only statewide data center moratorium in the country. Maryland (39.1%) and Massachusetts (28.6%) have the next-largest shares of counties with an active moratorium.
The data center map: all 50 states, ranked
Hover or tap a state on the data center map for its ranking, or sort the table by any column. This data center locations map covers all 50 states — click “Guide” on any row for Spark's full permitting and zoning guide for that state.
Click any column header to sort.
| Rank▲ | vs Jan 1 | State | Spark ScoreSpark's proprietary 0–100 composite score, weighing total data centers, approval rate, permit-filing growth rate, active moratoria share, and opposition events per project (moratoria and opposition both pull the score down). | Data CentersDistinct data center projects that have reached at least one of: a permit filed, construction started, or fully operational. A pipeline count, not just currently-live facilities. | Y/Y GrowthChange in permit filings between the two half-year windows: (2026 filings − 2025 filings) ÷ (2026 filings + 2025 filings). Bounded to ±100%, so a near-zero base doesn't produce a runaway percentage. | Approval RateShare of decided data center permits (approved or denied) in Jan-Jun 2026 that were approved - the same 6-month window used for the growth-rate column, so the two line up. Pending permits are excluded. | MoratoriaShare of a state's counties with a currently active data-center moratorium, out of all counties in the state (townships and other sub-county jurisdictions are rolled up to their county). A state with a genuine statewide moratorium shows 100%. | OppositionHow much public pushback data center projects face in the state, per project, in Jan-Jun 2026 - contested hearings, organized resident opposition, flagged social posts, etc. A higher figure pulls the Spark Score down. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | — | TexasTX Guide | 91 | 961 | +28% | 79% | 1.6% | 0.20 |
| 2 | — | VirginiaVA Guide | 82 | 724 | -23% | 74% | 3.1% | 0.12 |
| 3 | ▲ 12 | ArizonaAZ Guide | 73 | 155 | +18% | 89% | 0% | 0.35 |
| 4 | ▼ 1 | CaliforniaCA Guide | 72 | 312 | -6% | 68% | 1.7% | 0.24 |
| 5 | ▲ 3 | MississippiMS Guide | 71 | 67 | +82% | 83% | 1.2% | 0.28 |
| 6 | ▲ 3 | OregonOR Guide | 70 | 112 | -14% | 85% | 2.8% | 0.14 |
| 7 | ▲ 25 | AlaskaAK Guide | 70 | 20 | +50% | 100% | 0% | 0.10 |
| 8 | ▲ 17 | ArkansasAR Guide | 70 | 47 | 0% | 100% | 2.7% | 0.17 |
| 9 | ▲ 7 | AlabamaAL Guide | 70 | 66 | +100% | 84% | 0% | 0.83 |
| 10 | ▲ 1 | PennsylvaniaPA Guide | 70 | 318 | +53% | 56% | 4.5% | 0.47 |
| 11 | ▼ 5 | GeorgiaGA Guide | 70 | 338 | 0% | 85% | 15% | 0.23 |
| 12 | ▲ 36 | KentuckyKY Guide | 69 | 54 | -8% | 100% | 5.8% | 0.44 |
| 13 | ▲ 20 | HawaiiHI Guide | 69 | 11 | 0% | — | 0% | 0.00 |
| 14 | ▲ 3 | WashingtonWA Guide | 68 | 111 | +50% | 100% | 10.3% | 0.11 |
| 15 | ▲ 19 | ConnecticutCT Guide | 68 | 20 | +100% | 100% | 5.9% | 0.10 |
| 16 | ▲ 22 | Rhode IslandRI Guide | 68 | 5 | +100% | — | 0% | 0.20 |
| 17 | ▲ 22 | VermontVT Guide | 68 | 3 | 0% | — | 0% | 0.00 |
| 18 | ▼ 13 | New JerseyNJ Guide | 68 | 96 | +11% | 77% | 0% | 0.55 |
| 19 | ▼ 1 | West VirginiaWV Guide | 68 | 39 | -21% | 92% | 0% | 0.56 |
| 20 | ▼ 1 | WyomingWY Guide | 67 | 69 | +88% | 71% | 4.3% | 0.28 |
| 21 | ▲ 5 | LouisianaLA Guide | 67 | 84 | +38% | 70% | 3.1% | 0.26 |
| 22 | ▲ 21 | New HampshireNH Guide | 67 | 4 | +100% | — | 0% | 1.75 |
| 23 | ▼ 3 | NebraskaNE Guide | 67 | 59 | +50% | 100% | 8.6% | 0.03 |
| 24 | ▼ 12 | NevadaNV Guide | 67 | 145 | +22% | 81% | 12.5% | 0.10 |
| 25 | ▲ 2 | MontanaMT Guide | 66 | 45 | +85% | 0% | 1.8% | 0.69 |
| 26 | ▲ 18 | North DakotaND Guide | 66 | 76 | +20% | 100% | 13.2% | 0.12 |
| 27 | ▼ 14 | OklahomaOK Guide | 66 | 90 | +46% | 68% | 1.3% | 0.71 |
| 28 | ▼ 18 | IllinoisIL Guide | 66 | 218 | -8% | 71% | 9.8% | 0.40 |
| 29 | ▼ 25 | OhioOH Guide | 65 | 286 | +40% | 78% | 22.7% | 0.44 |
| 30 | ▼ 2 | ColoradoCO Guide | 65 | 76 | -11% | 89% | 12.5% | 0.26 |
| 31 | ▼ 2 | North CarolinaNC Guide | 65 | 136 | +37% | 68% | 9% | 0.43 |
| 32 | ▼ 11 | TennesseeTN Guide | 65 | 90 | -22% | 100% | 12.6% | 0.59 |
| 33 | ▲ 7 | MissouriMO Guide | 65 | 99 | +65% | 88% | 4.4% | 1.70 |
| 34 | ▼ 4 | IdahoID Guide | 64 | 31 | +20% | 20% | 4.5% | 0.06 |
| 35 | ▲ 6 | South DakotaSD Guide | 64 | 12 | 0% | 90% | 6.1% | 1.25 |
| 36 | ▲ 9 | IndianaIN Guide | 64 | 178 | +8% | 88% | 17.4% | 0.54 |
| 37 | ▼ 15 | South CarolinaSC Guide | 63 | 85 | +47% | 60% | 13% | 0.32 |
| 38 | ▲ 4 | DelawareDE Guide | 62 | 9 | -33% | 0% | 0% | 0.22 |
| 39 | ▼ 16 | New MexicoNM Guide | 62 | 68 | +78% | 39% | 3% | 0.63 |
| 40 | ▼ 5 | KansasKS Guide | 61 | 51 | 0% | 69% | 11.4% | 0.67 |
| 41 | ▼ 10 | IowaIA Guide | 61 | 95 | +20% | 79% | 22.2% | 0.24 |
| 42 | ▼ 35 | UtahUT Guide | 61 | 109 | +63% | 88% | 17.2% | 1.50 |
| 43 | ▼ 29 | MinnesotaMN Guide | 60 | 86 | +28% | 44% | 6.9% | 0.60 |
| 44 | ▲ 5 | FloridaFL Guide | 60 | 76 | +73% | 79% | 16.4% | 1.42 |
| 45 | ▲ 5 | MichiganMI Guide | 59 | 124 | +59% | 81% | 25.3% | 0.91 |
| 46 | ▼ 10 | WisconsinWI Guide | 58 | 105 | +37% | 80% | 20.8% | 1.25 |
| 47 | — | MaineME Guide | 57 | 22 | +100% | 75% | 25% | 0.55 |
| 48 | ▼ 11 | MassachusettsMA Guide | 55 | 19 | -40% | 50% | 28.6% | 0.32 |
| 49 | ▼ 25 | MarylandMD Guide | 54 | 93 | 0% | 86% | 39.1% | 0.35 |
| 50 | ▼ 4 | New YorkNY Guide | 31 | 215 | -13% | 100% | 100% | 0.45 |
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▾Methodology
- Data centers (filed, in construction, or operating) — distinct data center projects in Spark's infrastructure database that have reached at least one of these stages on or before 2026-08-18: a permit filed, construction started, or fully operational. This is a pipeline count, not just currently-live facilities, and it counts individually tracked projects rather than individual buildings — a single large campus can span many buildings under one or a handful of tracked projects.
- Permits filed (Jan to Jun 2025 / 2026) — count of permit-filed milestones logged for data center projects in the same six-month window (January 1 – June 30) of each year, so the two years compare like for like.
- Growth rate — the change in permit filings between the two half-year windows, calculated as (2026 filings − 2025 filings) ÷ (2026 filings + 2025 filings). This symmetric formula is bounded to ±100%, so a state going from a near-zero base doesn't produce a runaway percentage.
- Approval rate (H1 2026) — of the permit decisions (approved or denied) recorded for data center projects between January 1 and June 30, 2026 - the same window used for the growth-rate column - the share that were approved. Permits still pending a decision are excluded. States with a “—” had no decided permits in this window.
- Active moratoria — the share of a state's counties with a currently active, adopted data-center moratorium, out of all counties in the state (townships and other sub-county jurisdictions aren't counted). If a state has adopted a genuine statewide moratorium, this shows 100% regardless of county count. Determined from a text-based classification of authority decisions, so treat it as directional rather than a legal determination.
- Active opposition (events per project) — the number of public-opposition events (contested hearings, organized resident pushback, or social posts flagged as opposition) logged against data center projects in a state during the same H1 2026 window used above, divided by that state's total data centers. Dividing by the project count keeps a state with a large pipeline from being penalized just for having more surface area for opposition to occur.
- Spark Data Center Score — Spark's proprietary 0–100 composite, weighing five inputs: total data centers, permit-filing growth rate, approval rate, active-moratoria share, and opposition events per project (a higher share of active moratoria or a higher opposition level each pull the score down). Each input is normalized against a fixed reference range, calibrated once rather than rescaled on every refresh, so a state's score only moves when its own numbers move — not because another state's range shifted: total data centers 0 to 1,000; growth rate -100% to +100%; approval rate 0% to 100%; moratoria share 0% to 100%; opposition 0 to 2.0 events per project. Growth rate, approval rate, and opposition are also dampened toward a fixed historical baseline in proportion to how much volume backs them, so a handful of events in a small state doesn't swing the score as much as the same events would in an established market — states with no decided permits in the window are anchored to an 80% baseline approval rate rather than penalized for having no data yet. Rank reflects this score, highest to lowest. The exact weighting of each input is proprietary.
- vs Jan 1 — how a state's rank has moved since Jan 1, 2026.
- Data is sourced from Spark's proprietary infrastructure tracking database, covering permitting authority decisions, hearings, and construction/operational milestones nationwide. Figures reflect what has been captured and verified as of the data cutoff and will shift as new filings and decisions are recorded.
Go deeper
More from Spark on data center permitting, zoning, and development.
US data center map
An interactive map of data center sites tracked nationwide.
State permitting guides
Jurisdiction-level zoning and permitting detail for every state in this ranking.
Customer case studies
How developers use Spark to cut site diligence and permitting time.
Podcasts
Spark's team on AI, permitting bottlenecks, and infrastructure development.
SparkNotes blog
Industry insights and updates on energy and data center infrastructure.
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