The U.S. data center construction market is growing rapidly, driven by the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). This expansion is fueled by both colocation and hyperscale operators, with significant investments in new facilities and upgrades to existing ones. The Southeastern U.S. leads in data center investments, followed by the Midwest, while other regions are also seeing growth. AI’s increasing demand is pushing cloud providers and edge computing networks to expand their infrastructure. Future investments will focus on sustainability, incorporating renewable energy and innovative cooling solutions to address environmental concerns and support the growing need for AI-driven data processing.
AI Powers Surge in Data Center Investments, Expanding to New Frontiers in the U.S.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the U.S. data center landscape as businesses increasingly adopt AI technologies, especially in sectors like information services and professional services. Although AI adoption is still limited to a small percentage of businesses, there is significant growth potential, with many planning to integrate AI shortly. The demand for data centers, or AI factories, is surging, driven by major players like OpenAI and other cloud service providers. Companies such as Lumen Orbit, IBM, and TensorWave are making substantial investments in expanding AI-specific infrastructure, including space-based data centers and AI GPUs. Traditional workloads still dominate, but AI and high-performance computing (HPC) are expected to lead in the coming years. The U.S. market is facing capacity constraints, with new developments in Tier 1 markets delayed by power availability. This has led to growth in Tier 2 and 3 markets, alongside increased involvement from Bitcoin mining companies shifting to AI-focused data center operations.
Southeastern U.S. Emerges as a Key Data Center Hub Amid AI Growth
The Southeastern U.S. is rapidly becoming a major center for data center development, driven by the growing demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cloud infrastructure. While Northern Virginia has traditionally dominated the market, states like Georgia, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Tennessee are now witnessing significant growth. Atlanta has seen a massive surge in data center capacity, with hundreds of megawatts being added in 2024. Georgia’s tax exemptions on high-tech data center equipment have further fueled this expansion. The Southeastern U.S. colocation market, valued at over $21 billion in 2024, is set to reach nearly $41 billion by 2030, underscoring the region’s growing role in the future of digital technology.
U.S. Data Center Construction Market Segmentation Analysis
The U.S. data center construction market will witness data center facilities with varied densities adopted across different data halls. The cost of data center construction is growing at around 5% to 10% YOY, which is expected to continue, with the average cost per MW reaching $12 million by 2030. The dearth of skilled workers will worsen with the market growing at a rate more significant than before. With tens of projects being carried out simultaneously, the lack of skilled workers in the U.S. construction market will continue to grow, especially in key locations such as Virginia, Georgia, Texas, and Arizona. The U.S. data center construction market will witness new companies entering the data center sub-contractor space, and with development moving toward the Tier III market, sub-contractors in those locations will be able to earn millions of dollars in revenue. The use of AI to monitor data centers will continue to grow among data centers in the United States.
