If a data center is coming to your neighborhood, you can bet people around you have questions about it:
- How will that impact home values here?
- Will my utility bill go up?
- Will anyone want to buy my home if a data center is nearby?
- What will that mean for my property taxes?
That’s just for starters. But most agents don’t think about how a data center would impact the people in their neighborhood, until they get the news one is coming. Sometimes, not even then.
So, here’s a quick rundown of the highlights from Realtor.com’s latest report, plus how you can use the data to create hyperlocal content that makes you the agent buyers and sellers can trust to answer their questions and lay out exactly what they can expect.
Here’s what you (and your clients) need to know.
The Buildout Is Bigger Than Most People Realize
Large data centers were rare a decade ago. Now they’re multiplying fast, and spreading into states that never had one before.
- In 2015, large data centers (at least 50 megawatts, enough to power about 40,000 homes) operated in 21 states, drawing a combined 9,600 megawatts of electricity
- By 2025, that figure had grown to more than 43,000 megawatts across 36 states, close to five times as much in a decade
- Virginia leads the country with about 13,300 megawatts, close to a fifth of the national total
In 2025, there were 12 ZIP codes with a large data center. By June 2026, 108 ZIP codes had one, and we’re on pace to reach 125 ZIPs by year’s end.
By mid-2026, 347 large data center facilities were active, up from 49 in 2018.
The map keeps expanding well past Virginia. Iowa, Indiana, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana are all adding real capacity, in states that had almost no data center presence a few years ago.
Data centers are opening in new places, and more people end up living near one as a result.
Where New Data Centers Are Being Sited Now
New data centers keep moving away from cities and into places with fewer neighbors and lower incomes than they used to.
- Median distance from the nearest major city center: about 23 miles for facilities that opened between 2019 and 2025, 27 miles for 2026 facilities, and a projected 34 miles for 2027
- Housing density around a new data center: about 116 units per square mile in 2017, down to 32 units per square mile in 2026, a decline of more than 70%
- Median ZIP income relative to the national median: 25% above in 2023, 2.1% below in 2026, and a projected 5.7% below in 2027
About 1 in 8 ZIP codes that got a large data center since 2022 has a median household income under $60,000.
The xAI Colossus complex in Memphis sits in a ZIP code where the median household income is about half the national figure, one of the most extreme examples in the data.
These communities tend to have less experience managing a large industrial neighbor. Many have thinner tax bases to pay for any fixes, and housing markets slower to respond to new information.
What a Data Center Does to Home Values
Realtor.com studied 43 ZIP codes that got a large data center between 2019 and 2025, matching each one to a similar ZIP code nearby that didn’t get one.
Here’s what changed after the data center opened, compared with its match:
- Home sale prices: about one percentage point higher for data center ZIPs in year one, a difference too small to call meaningful, with comparison neighborhoods pulling ahead by year two
- Listing prices: a small bump when the facility opened, then a slide back toward the comparison group
- Property tax rates before a facility opens: 1.73% near data centers, versus 2.12% in comparison areas 10 to 25 miles away
- Property tax rates five years after a facility opens: about 1.85% near data centers, up from that 1.73% starting point, while comparison areas dropped to about 1.90%
- Active listings: 66% of pre-opening inventory retained three years after opening near data centers, compared with 43% in matched neighborhoods
Tax rates are set by county and municipal governments that make their own budget calls, regardless of any single facility. Builders added homes near these facilities ahead of demand, which kept supply from tightening the way it did in comparison neighborhoods.
Home values in these neighborhoods didn’t outperform similar communities without a data center. They didn’t underperform them either.
What isn’t clear, yet, is the long-term impact. Data centers are multiplying quickly before anyone gets a chance to see the full impact on people living close to them, long after the temporary boost in local construction-related jobs.
And regarding their impact on smaller communities, we only know what’s reported.
The Next Wave of Data Centers Looks Different
The data centers going up are bigger than the ones this report studied. The average new facility drew about 24 megawatts of power in 2018. By 2026, that average reached 60 megawatts, more than double, with bigger projects in the pipeline.
A larger facility means more generators and cooling towers, plus a steady stream of trucks moving in and out around the clock.
Electricity costs are turning into a real issue in places with heavy data center development.
- Georgia forced OpenAI to promise its new campus in Effingham County wouldn’t raise local electricity rates.
- New York passed the first statewide moratorium on new large data center permits, in June 2026.
- New Jersey passed a law requiring data centers to cover at least 85% of their own projected power costs for a decade.
Water is a real cost to factor in, too. Most large data centers rely on water-cooled systems to manage heat, and a single large facility can use millions of gallons a year. This water comes from the same supply as everyone else in the area.
In dry markets like Phoenix and Dallas-Fort Worth, water rights and allocation are contested before a data center opens.
Many of these communities have no history dealing with a big industrial neighbor, and have fewer resources to handle problems that come up.
Turning This Into Hyperlocal Content
If a large data center is proposed or under construction near one of your listings, or in a market you cover, you can build a short local post around it.
Here are a few angles to try:
- “Is a Data Center Coming to [City]? Here’s What Buyers and Sellers Should Know”
- “What [City] Homeowners Should Know About Their Electricity Bill and the New Data Center”
- “Will Your Property Taxes Change When a Data Center Opens in [City]?”
- “Water Use and the New Data Center in [City]. What Local Homeowners Should Know”
- “[City] Just Approved a Data Center. Here’s What That Means for Local Homeowners”
- “Should You Worry About Buying Near the Proposed [City] Data Center Site”
Include (and answer) questions people are already asking to shape your post:
- Is there an active or proposed large data center within a few miles of this area?
- What utility company and tax district does it fall under, and has either made any public statements about rates?
- Has the local city or county government taken any position on it, like the moratoriums or bans some cities have passed?
- Could a data center drive up your housing costs (utilities, property taxes, etc.) or drive up the cost of drinkable water?
- Do we know the short-term and long-term impact on home values in neighborhoods with data centers?
You can check local planning and zoning notices, along with news coverage of proposed projects in your area, to find out whether a data center is in the works near you before a client asks.
Nobody expects an agent to predict what a data center will do to home values. Realtor.com’s own analysts say it’s too early to know for certain in every market.
What clients want is someone who took the time to look into it, and can explain what’s known and what’s an open question.
