Where Are AI Data Centers Being Built in the US? A State-by-State Map of the Giant Campuses (Oct. 2026)
As of October 2, 2026, America’s biggest new AI data centers are going up in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Georgia, not mainly in the old hub of Northern Virginia. Meta has announced 5 gigawatts for one Louisiana campus. OpenAI’s Stargate project has seven US sites. Texas alone had about 474 gigawatts of requests to plug large loads into its grid by August 2026, roughly 90% of them data centers.
What we read for this map, October 2, 2026
- Counts: Pew Research Center’s April 13, 2026 analysis of Data Center Map, and Synergy Research Group’s April 13, 2026 hyperscale count.
- Markets: CBRE’s North America Data Center Trends report for the first half of 2026, published August 27, 2026, and JLL’s midyear 2026 report.
- Campuses: company press releases, state economic development pages and Epoch AI’s Frontier Data Centers database, last updated October 2, 2026.
- Grid: PJM’s 2026 load forecast and reporting on ERCOT’s large-load queue.
An AI assistant helped draft this piece and run the page reads; every quote was read on the source’s own page on the date shown.
This is part 3 of our six-part guide to AI data centers.
Start with what an AI data center is, then how they are built, how much power, GPU and memory they need, Musk’s plan for data centers in space, what they mean for the people next door and who is building the most, and the rules.
Where are AI data centers being built in the US?
The largest AI campuses announced as of October 2, 2026 are in Louisiana (Meta, 5 GW planned), Texas (at least five campuses adding up to 3.8 GW announced), New Mexico and Indiana (2.2 GW each), and a ring of Great Lakes states. Those totals come from the company and state announcements behind our campus table below.
The pattern is new. For two decades, the center of the data center world was Loudoun County, Virginia. Now the giant AI training sites are going where large blocks of power and land are available, which often means rural counties. Pew found that 67% of planned US data centers are in rural areas, while 87% of existing ones are in urban areas.
How many data centers are in the US, and which state has the most?
The US has more than 3,000 operating data centers and more than 1,500 more in development, according to Pew Research Center’s analysis of Data Center Map data accessed February 19, 2026. Virginia leads with 398 operating and 287 planned. Only a small slice are giant “hyperscale” sites: Synergy Research counted 580 in the US at the end of 2025, out of 1,360 worldwide.
| State | Operating | Planned | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | 398 | 287 | 685 |
| Texas | 296 | 170 | 466 |
| California | 277 | 54 | 331 |
| Illinois | 139 | 123 | 262 |
| Georgia | 94 | 141 | 235 |
Count and size are different questions. A count treats a small office server room and a gigawatt campus the same. That is why the state with the most data centers, Virginia, is not where the largest new AI campuses are going. Georgia is the one to watch on the planned column: it has more planned sites (141) than operating ones (94).
Synergy’s hyperscale data shows the same shift. At the end of 2025, Texas and the Midwest held 33% of operating US hyperscale capacity but 53% of the capacity in the pipeline. In Synergy’s words, “By a wide margin Texas is the most prominent state in the pipeline.”
Which are the biggest AI data center campuses in the US?
By current power, Epoch AI’s database, updated October 2, 2026, ranks xAI’s Colossus 2 in Memphis first at an estimated 946 MW of IT power, followed by the Amazon campus for Anthropic in New Carlisle, Indiana at 910 MW. By announced size, Meta’s Hyperion campus in Louisiana is the largest at a planned 5 GW. Here are the campuses we could confirm on a primary page.
| Campus | Where | Power and money announced | Status found |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Hyperion | Richland Parish, LA | 5 GW; “more than $50 billion” | Building since Dec. 2024 |
| Stargate Abilene (OpenAI, Oracle, Crusoe) | Abilene, TX | 1.2 GW full campus | Partly running since Sept. 2025 |
| Stargate “Frontier” (Vantage) | Shackelford County, TX | 1.4 GW; $25 billion | Under construction |
| Stargate “Project Jupiter” | Dona Ana County, NM | 2.2 GW projected (Epoch AI) | Foundations; lawsuits pending |
| Stargate Milam County (SB Energy) | Milam County, TX | 1.2 GW projected (Epoch AI) | Under construction |
| Stargate Michigan (Related Digital) | Saline Township, MI | “more than a gigawatt” | Foundations |
| Stargate “Lighthouse” (Vantage) | Port Washington, WI | “nearly 1 gigawatt”; $15 billion | Broke ground Dec. 2025 |
| xAI Colossus 2 | Memphis, TN | 946 MW IT (Epoch AI estimate) | Operating |
| xAI site | Southaven, MS | $20 billion+ (Gov. Tate Reeves) | Announced Jan. 2026 |
| Amazon Project Rainier (for Anthropic) | New Carlisle, IN | 2.2 GW at full build; $11 billion | Operating since Oct. 2025 |
| Meta Prometheus | New Albany, OH | 1 GW planned; 496 MW now (Epoch AI) | Partly operating |
| Microsoft Fairwater | Mount Pleasant, WI | “more than $7 billion”; no MW published | First building running June 2026 |
| Microsoft Fairwater Atlanta | Fayetteville, GA | 636 MW IT (Epoch AI estimate) | Operating since Oct. 2025 |
| Google Texas | Armstrong and Haskell counties, TX | $40 billion through 2027 | Announced Nov. 2025 |
| Anthropic with Fluidstack | Texas and New York | $50 billion; sites not named | Online “throughout 2026” |
| Applied Digital Polaris Forge 1 (CoreWeave tenant) | Ellendale, ND | 400 MW leased | Second building mid-2026 |
Read the money column carefully, because the dollar figures measure different things. Meta’s “more than $50 billion” is a build cost. Google’s $40 billion is a multi-year state total. In New Mexico, the county approved up to $165 billion in industrial revenue bonds, which is a borrowing ceiling, not money spent. Applied Digital’s figure is rent it expects to collect. None of them include the price of the chips unless the company says so.
Why are AI data centers moving to Texas, the Midwest and the South?
Because the scarce input is electricity, not land: JLL’s January 2026 outlook says “Speed to power is the primary criteria driving site selection,” and its midyear 2026 report found 77% of capacity under construction in North America is in “frontier” markets, led by West Texas. Old hubs are full. CBRE put vacancy in its primary markets at a record-low 1.4% in the first half of 2026.
The individual deals show what “power first” looks like. Louisiana offered Meta a 2,250-acre former farm site, and Meta says its deal with the utility Entergy funds “seven new natural gas-fueled generating plants, three grid-scale batteries.” Two of the Texas Stargate sites, in Shackelford County and Dona Ana County across the line in New Mexico, plan their own gas-fired power on site, according to an Oracle fact sheet from September 2025.
JLL names the beneficiaries directly: “West Texas has been the largest beneficiary of this industry shift, but Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana and the Carolinas have also benefited significantly.” Synergy adds that Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Missouri “will all grow rapidly in importance.”
Is Northern Virginia still the data center capital of the world?
By what is already running, yes: CBRE’s report published August 27, 2026 lists Northern Virginia at 4,496.5 MW of operating inventory, more than the next two markets combined. But for the first time, Atlanta overtook it for construction, with about 2,882 MW being built against about 2,420 MW in Northern Virginia.
Northern Virginia’s problem is power and neighbors, not demand. Data Center Frontier, summarizing CBRE, reported that “All Northern Virginia capacity scheduled to deliver during 2026 has already been committed.” Next door in Prince William County, the 2,000-acre Digital Gateway project died in July 2026 after courts voided its rezoning. Our post on what data centers mean for local communities covers that fight.
What is Stargate, and where are its data centers?
Stargate is OpenAI’s data center build-out with Oracle and SoftBank; SoftBank’s September 24, 2025 release said five new sites brought it to “nearly 7 gigawatts of planned capacity and over $400 billion in investment over the next three years.” Epoch AI’s April 2026 review put the seven US sites at “over 9 GW of planned capacity.”
The seven US sites are Abilene, Shackelford County and Milam County in Texas; Dona Ana County in New Mexico; Lordstown in Ohio; Saline Township in Michigan; and Port Washington in Wisconsin. They are at very different stages. Abilene was partly running in September 2025. Epoch AI found Lordstown is “primarily a manufacturing facility for AI servers and data center equipment,” with no large data center construction visible.
How much power do these campuses want from the grid?
More than the grid can promise: requests to connect large loads to the Texas grid grew from 63 GW in December 2024 to about 474 GW by August 2026, with “ninety percent of which are data centers,” according to Gov. Greg Abbott’s August 3, 2026 letter as summarized by the law firm Gibson Dunn. A request is not a project. Many will never be built.
The same squeeze shows up in the East. PJM, the grid operator for 13 states and Washington, D.C., including Northern Virginia and Ohio, forecast in January 2026 that its summer peak will reach about 222,000 MW in 2036, “a 10-year increase of nearly 66,000 MW.” Our post on how much power an AI data center uses explains what a gigawatt means in homes.
Texas has started pushing back on the queue. The governor’s directive requires “comprehensive verification and audit of all data centers advancing through ERCOT’s interconnection process,” and ERCOT paused part of its study process in August 2026. If you live in Texas and worry about your bill, see whether AI is pushing up your electric bill.
Do these AI data center projects ever get cancelled?
Yes: the Prince William Digital Gateway in Virginia, which would have been one of the largest data center campuses in the world, ended in July 2026, and Crusoe paused its Wyoming campus in June 2026 “at the request of our customer,” as Bloomberg Law reported. Big numbers also shrink or stall without being cancelled.
Announced size and built size differ a lot. Meta says Hyperion will reach 5 GW. Epoch AI projects about 1,632 MW of IT power there by early 2028 and says it has found “no concrete evidence” of 5 GW at that one site yet. Meta’s Prometheus in Ohio was planned at 1 GW; Epoch estimates 496 MW today. That is not a sign of deception. Campuses are built in phases, and estimates lag reality.
How can you find out if an AI data center is coming to your county?
Watch three public places: your county’s zoning and planning agendas, your state economic development office’s announcements, and your utility regulator’s large-load filings. Here is the order we would check them in.
- County planning and zoning agendas. Rezonings, special-use permits and land sales are posted before votes. Search the agenda for “data center,” “technology park” and “hyperscale.”
- State economic development news. Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi and New Mexico announced their biggest projects through state offices.
- Utility and regulator dockets. New large loads usually need a utility contract or tariff that a state commission reviews.
- Independent trackers. Epoch AI’s database estimates power and chips for the biggest AI sites from satellite images and permits.
If a project is coming, our local communities guide lists the questions residents have asked about water, noise and taxes. If you are looking for work at one, see how to become a data center technician and how much AI data center electricians make.
Virginia, Texas, Ohio and Louisiana, state by state in brief
How many data centers are in the US?
More than 3,000 are operating and more than 1,500 are in development, according to Pew Research Center’s April 2026 analysis of Data Center Map. Only 580 are giant hyperscale sites, by Synergy Research’s count at the end of 2025.
Which state has the most data centers?
Virginia, with 398 operating and 287 planned, for 685 total. Texas is second with 466 and California third with 331, per Pew’s count from February 2026 data.
Where is the largest AI data center in the US?
It depends on the yardstick. By current estimated power, Epoch AI ranks xAI’s Colossus 2 in Memphis, Tennessee first at about 946 MW. By announced size, Meta’s Hyperion in Richland Parish, Louisiana is largest at a planned 5 GW.
Which state is building the most AI data centers?
Texas. Synergy Research says Texas is “by a wide margin” the most prominent state in the hyperscale pipeline, and JLL says West Texas leads construction. Texas has at least five named AI campuses in our table.
Where are AI data centers being built in Texas?
Named sites include Abilene, Shackelford County and Milam County for OpenAI’s Stargate, and Armstrong and Haskell counties for Google’s $40 billion Texas plan. Anthropic says its first Fluidstack sites are in Texas and New York, without naming counties.
Where are AI data centers being built in Ohio?
Meta’s Prometheus campus is in New Albany, in Licking County, and is partly operating. SoftBank’s Stargate site in Lordstown is, according to Epoch AI, mainly a factory for servers and equipment so far.
Where are AI data centers being built in Louisiana?
Meta’s Hyperion campus is in Richland Parish in northeast Louisiana, on a 2,250-acre former farm site. Meta raised its plan to 5 GW and “more than $50 billion” in July 2026.
Which city is building the most data center capacity right now?
Atlanta. CBRE says Atlanta had about 2,882 MW under construction in the first half of 2026, passing Northern Virginia’s roughly 2,420 MW for the first time.
Why are data centers built in rural areas now?
Because power and large land parcels are easier to get there. Pew found 67% of planned US data centers are in rural areas, while 87% of existing ones are in urban areas.
Do states give data centers tax breaks?
Most do. Good Jobs First, a subsidy watchdog that opposes these breaks, counted 37 states with sales and use tax exemptions for data centers in June 2026. Georgia expects its exemption to cost $2.5 billion in fiscal 2026.
How many Stargate sites are there?
Seven in the US: Abilene, Shackelford County and Milam County in Texas; Dona Ana County, New Mexico; Lordstown, Ohio; Saline Township, Michigan; and Port Washington, Wisconsin. Epoch AI puts their planned total above 9 GW.
Is the data center boom slowing down?
Not in the numbers we read. CBRE reported record construction of 7,481 MW in its primary markets and JLL more than 66 GW under construction across North America in mid-2026. But some projects stall: Crusoe paused Wyoming and Virginia’s Digital Gateway ended in 2026.
Why CBRE’s market total and JLL’s 66 GW are not a contradiction
Counts come from Pew’s analysis of Data Center Map and Synergy Research. We could not open Data Center Map’s own site, so we use Pew’s figures from it. Market megawatts come from CBRE, which covers colocation markets only. JLL’s much larger 66 GW figure covers all of North America, including self-built campuses; the two are different scopes, not a contradiction.
Campus figures are what companies and states announced, labeled as such. Where a company publishes no megawatt figure, we use Epoch AI’s estimate and say so. Epoch builds those from satellite images and permits; they are estimates of IT power, and Epoch notes total facility power runs 20% to 50% higher. Microsoft’s Wisconsin megawatts and xAI’s first Colossus site are left blank because we found no primary figure.
From Memphis to orbit: the builders behind these campuses
Go back to the complete guide to AI data centers for the basics, or read who is building the most and what the rules are. For why some builders now look to orbit instead, see why Elon Musk wants data centers in space. For Memphis specifically, our xAI Memphis jobs and pay post covers the people side.
The companies in this table are hiring. Browse open roles on our jobs board, track daily counts on the AI jobs tracker, or read is OpenAI still hiring and is Anthropic hiring. For the bigger picture, our Physical AI library collects the rest.
Cite this
As of October 2, 2026, the largest announced US AI data center campus is Meta’s 5 GW Hyperion in Louisiana; OpenAI’s Stargate has seven US sites; Texas had about 474 GW of large-load grid requests by August 2026; and Virginia had 685 operating and planned data centers. Source: profhlab.com, Where Are AI Data Centers Being Built in the US?
Sources read on October 2, 2026: Pew Research Center, April 13, 2026; Synergy Research Group, April 13, 2026; CBRE, August 27, 2026; JLL North America Data Center Report, midyear 2026; Epoch AI Frontier Data Centers, updated October 2, 2026.
Also read on October 2, 2026: SoftBank, September 24, 2025; PJM Inside Lines, January 14, 2026; Gibson Dunn, August 14, 2026; Latitude Media, December 3, 2025; Good Jobs First, June 12, 2026; WTOP, July 2, 2026; Bloomberg Law, June 9, 2026; plus the company pages linked in the table. Photos via Wikimedia Commons under the licenses shown.
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