Answer
What is the data center capital of the US?
Northern Virginia, specifically Loudoun County, known in the industry as Data Center Alley. As of 2026-08-24, the DEPLOY registry tracks 338 facilities in Virginia with 29,984 MW of disclosed critical IT capacity, more than any other state.
Virginia’s dominance is a legacy of the AOL / MAE-East peering point of the 1990s, MCI’s Ashburn fiber trunk, and Dominion Energy’s willingness to interconnect big loads. That head start compounded through cheap land, tax abatements, and hyperscaler co-siting. Today more global internet traffic transits Loudoun County than any other place on earth.
The top five states
| # | State | Facilities | Disclosed MW |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas | 555 | — |
| 2 | Virginia | 338 | — |
| 3 | West Coast | 224 | — |
| 4 | Georgia | 155 | — |
| 5 | Illinois | 152 | — |
The top metros / cities
- 1.AshburnVirginia92 facilities
- 2.Santa ClaraWest Coast64 facilities
- 3.ChicagoIllinois54 facilities
- 4.SterlingVirginia46 facilities
- 5.PhoenixSouthwest42 facilities
- 6.AtlantaGeorgia42 facilities
- 7.DallasTexas41 facilities
- 8.AustinTexas36 facilities
- 9.San AntonioTexas34 facilities
- 10.HillsboroOregon33 facilities
- 11.San JoseWest Coast32 facilities
- 12.New AlbanyOhio29 facilities
Related answers
- How many data centers are in the US?
The verified count of US data-center facilities, broken down by lifecycle status.
- Which US states have the most data centers?
State-by-state ranking of tracked data-center facilities.
- Where are AI data centers being built?
Every announced, permitted, and under-construction facility, grouped by state.
- Who has the biggest AI data center?
Data-center leaderboard by critical IT megawatts.
Rebuilt every 15 minutes from data_center_facilities × locations. See the full state ranking.