Frequently asked questions

Every point on the map is a feature in OpenStreetMap tagged as a data center (telecom=data_center, building=data_center, or the construction and proposed variants). We pull the full US set from the Overpass API once a day, assign each facility to a state, and rebuild the site. Nothing is edited by hand.

This map currently shows 1,835 facilities, of which 50 are under construction or proposed. That is a floor. OpenStreetMap only knows about what volunteers have mapped, and many planned projects are still confidential or only exist in county permit files. Commercial trackers such as Cleanview count well over 3,000 sites including planned projects.

Planned data centers rarely make it into OpenStreetMap until construction is visible on aerial imagery. The best public sources for upcoming projects are state air permits for backup diesel generators, county zoning agendas, and utility interconnection filings. If you know about a project near you and can document it, you can map it (see below) and it will appear here the next day.

Some mappers record the facility's IT load using the it_power tag, in megawatts. Most do not. The capacity totals on this site only add up those tagged values, so they are far below the real total. Marker size on the map scales with capacity when it is known.

Edit OpenStreetMap directly. Create a free account, open the editor at the location, trace the building or drop a point, and add the tag telecom=data_center plus name and operator if you know them. For a site under construction use construction:telecom=data_center. The OSM wiki page lists all accepted tags. Changes reach this site within about 24 hours.

A single large campus can draw as much electricity as a mid-sized city, which drives up demand on the grid and often on residential rates. Cooling can consume millions of gallons of water a day in dry regions. Backup diesel generators are permitted to run for testing and outages. Facilities also run 24/7 and produce constant low-frequency noise. Local governments frequently grant multi-decade tax abatements in exchange for a small number of permanent jobs. Whether that trade is worth it is a local decision, and it is easier to make with a map in hand.

Yes. The underlying data is OpenStreetMap, licensed under the ODbL. Download our processed file at /data/datacenters.geojson. Credit OpenStreetMap contributors and share any improvements under the same license.

An independent project, not affiliated with any data center operator or utility.