Tech Trend: Big tech moving data centers into Flyover Country

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A huge trend we’re seeing from the big data center industry has been a midwestern crawl run.

Google kicked off the Midwest data center boom with its 2007 announcement of a new facility in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Over the last decade, that data center has grown, with well over 1 million square feet of data center space deployed. And the big tech companies continue to grow the number of hyperscale facilities in developing data center markets across Flyover Country.

In March 2022, Google announced its plan to build a 1.4-million-square-foot data center in Omaha, Nebraska. That same day, Facebook parent company Meta revealed it would be adding more than one million square feet to its data center near Columbus, Ohio. Apple is starting construction on a billion-dollar data center in Iowa.

Why the shift? For one, data centers have seen a notable transition to the Flyover Country because of its affordability–power comprises the majority of most hyperscale enterprise users’ total operating budget, so the cost of power is one of the most important factors in data center site selection. Cities are also taking a proactive approach to luring data centers by offering attractive tax incentives.

The central locations between the coasts also offer higher access convenience, more reliable network connectivity, and proximity to major cities. The locations also work better for disaster recovery purposes. A data center that houses your secondary and tertiary backups should be easily accessible to someone on your team, yet more than 30 miles away from a major metro area.

The trend shows no signs of slowing down as Flyover Country continues to make itself more credible as a viable location alternative. We can expect this trend to continue, making strong growth preeminent. Stay tuned as we cover more of this news!