America’s AI data center boom is not happening in one place.
Virginia still has the largest data center footprint. Texas is growing fast. Georgia, Ohio, Arizona, the Midwest, and the Gulf Coast are also drawing major projects.
But a location on a map tells only half the story.
A data center can open only when it has a real power plan. That plan may use the regional grid, new power plants, batteries, onsite generation, or a mix of all four.
The map shows where the data center footprint is. The project table shows where the next wave may go—and how the power may arrive.
Last updated: July 21, 2026.
The U.S. Data Center Map
The map uses the state totals displayed by Data Center Map on July 21, 2026. Virginia leads with 639 listings. Texas follows with 506. California has 292.
Illinois, Ohio, and Georgia also stand out. These states already have clusters of buildings, network links, utilities, contractors, and skilled workers.
The map is useful, but it needs one warning.
These are industry-directory listings. They are not an audited count of operating AI facilities, and they do not measure electrical capacity.
One large campus may appear as several buildings or phases. Some listings may be under construction or still in development. A 20 MW site and a 1 GW campus also count as one listing each.
So the color tells us where activity is concentrated. It does not tell us how much power each state’s data centers use.
The Next Wave Is Moving Beyond Old Hubs
The old data center map was mainly an urban map. The new project pipeline looks different.
Pew Research Center analyzed Data Center Map records current to February 19, 2026. It found more than 3,000 operating U.S. data centers and more than 1,500 in development.
Sixty-seven percent of planned projects were in rural areas, while 87% of operating facilities were in urban areas. Three-quarters of planned projects were in the South and Midwest.
This shift makes sense. Very large AI campuses need land, high-voltage connections, room for substations, and space for future phases. Those needs are harder to meet inside an old city hub.
Major U.S. AI Data Center Projects and Their Power Plans
The table below is not a complete construction list. It selects large projects with public information about status, scale, or power supply.
| Project | Status | Public scale | How power is planned | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Abilene AI campuses
Crusoe / Oracle / Microsoft · Texas |
Operating and expanding | About 2.1 GW projected across the combined site | Existing phases use grid-connected infrastructure; the new 900 MW Microsoft campus adds dedicated onsite generation and battery storage. | 2026-03-27 |
|
Childress AI campus
Crusoe / Lancium · Texas |
Construction expected to begin Q3 2026 | 1.0 GW grid-connected capacity | Lancium secures the grid interconnect and manages energy orchestration; energy storage supports reliability. | 2026-07-15 |
|
Hyperion, Richland Parish
Meta · Louisiana |
Under construction and expanding | 5 GW of compute capacity, using Meta's company term | Entergy agreement funds seven gas-fueled generating plants, three grid batteries, nuclear uprates, and purchased power. | 2026-07-13 |
|
AWS Mississippi campuses
Amazon · Mississippi |
Under construction and expanding | $25 billion planned investment; electrical MW not publicly stated | Amazon funds new energy infrastructure and $300 million of grid improvements; five renewable projects add 616 MW. | 2026-04-09 |
|
Colossus, Memphis
xAI · Tennessee |
Operating and expanding | 150 MW grid service energized in the cited utility update; a second 150 MW increment was planned | MLGW/TVA grid, customer-funded transmission work and substations, plus a curtailment agreement during high demand. | 2025 utility update |
|
The Barn, Saline Township
Oracle / OpenAI / Related Digital · Michigan |
All three buildings under construction | Three 550,000-square-foot buildings; electrical MW not publicly stated | DTE existing resources plus project-funded battery storage, transmission lines, and an onsite substation. | 2026-06-01 |
|
Port Washington AI campus
Oracle / OpenAI partners · Wisconsin |
Planned | Four buildings on 500 acres; campus electrical MW not publicly stated | 70% zero-emission energy target; about 2,000 MW of new wind, solar, and battery resources added to Wisconsin's grid. | 2026-01 |
|
Fairwater, Mount Pleasant
Microsoft · Wisconsin |
First facility operating; second facility under construction | $4.7 billion of local hyperscale construction estimated for 2024–2028; MW not publicly stated | Regional grid supply supported by wider generation and transmission investment; second facility is scheduled for 2028. | 2026-06-23 |
Public scale numbers are not always comparable. Some companies report total campus capacity. Others report IT load, power generation, investment dollars, building size, or “compute capacity.”
A missing MW number does not mean the project is small. It means the electrical figure was not stated in the public source used here.
Five Ways America Is Powering the Buildout
1. Use the regional grid
The simplest model is still the most common. A utility connects the campus to the regional grid.
But “grid power” is not one wire. A large connection may need new transmission work, a new substation, transformers, and years of engineering studies.
2. Build new utility generation
Some projects are so large that the utility adds power plants.
Meta’s Louisiana plan is the clearest example in this table. Meta says its agreement will fund gas-fueled generation, grid batteries, nuclear uprates, and purchased power.
This model can deliver a large block of reliable power. It also raises questions about fuel use, emissions, construction cost, and who carries the risk.
3. Add power at the site
Onsite generation can reduce dependence on the connection schedule.
Crusoe’s new 900 MW Abilene campus includes a dedicated onsite power plant and battery system. The idea is simple: build computing and energy infrastructure together.
Onsite power does not always mean complete separation from the grid. A campus may still use the grid for support, backup, or later expansion.
4. Use batteries and flexible demand
Batteries cannot create energy. They can move energy across time and bridge short problems.
A data center may also agree to reduce grid use during tight hours. MLGW’s public update described a curtailment agreement for xAI in Memphis.
This turns a large load into something the grid can manage more actively.
5. Add clean energy to the wider grid
A wind or solar project does not need to sit beside the server building.
Amazon says its Mississippi investments support 616 MW of new wind and solar. Oracle says the Port Washington plan would add about 2,000 MW of zero-emission resources to Wisconsin’s grid.
The campus still depends on the grid at every hour. The clean-energy project changes the wider supply mix over time.
Why This Map Matters to You
This is not only a story about tech companies.
A new campus may change local construction work, utility investment, land values, tax revenue, water planning, and the need for power equipment.
It may also create a debate over electric bills. A company may promise to pay for its own connection, but readers should still ask how costs and risks are divided.
For investors, the map points beyond chips. It points toward utilities, transformers, switchgear, transmission contractors, batteries, cooling systems, and construction firms.
For students and engineers, it shows that AI infrastructure is a real physical system. Software demand becomes land, steel, cable, power, and heat.
How to Read the Next Data Center Announcement
When a company announces a new campus, check these seven items:
- Status: Is it announced, permitted, under construction, energized, or operating?
- Power unit: Does the number describe IT load, facility load, generation, or something else?
- Grid connection: Has the utility approved the connection?
- New equipment: Are new substations, transformers, or transmission lines required?
- Generation: Will new gas, nuclear, wind, solar, batteries, or onsite power be added?
- Cost: Who pays for the new infrastructure if the project changes or stops?
- Growth: Is the announced number phase one, or the final campus plan?
These questions help separate a real buildout from a large headline.
The Main Idea
America’s data center footprint is still led by established hubs. The next AI wave is moving toward places with land and a credible path to power.
The map shows concentration. The table shows movement. The power plan tells us whether the movement can become a working data center.
Related Articles
- Why Power, Not Chips, May Limit the AI Data Center Boom
- How to Understand a 100 MW Data Center Power Model
- How Much Power Is 100 MW? An AI Data Center Compared with Entire Cities
- AI Data Center Power Cost Calculator in Python
Sources and Method
- Data Center Map: USA Data Centers . State listing counts accessed July 21, 2026.
- Pew Research Center: Most New Data Centers in the U.S. Are Coming to Rural Areas .
- Project rows link to official company or utility sources.
Map note: The Data Center Map page reports 4,556 U.S. listings. The individual state and Washington, D.C. values visible on July 21, 2026 sum to 4,555, a one-listing difference that may reflect live-directory timing. The map uses the displayed state values.