Data Sources for the US Data Center Map
Key takeaways
- Existing map points in this snapshot come from OpenStreetMap features tagged as data centers.
- OpenStreetMap data is available under the Open Database License (ODbL), and attribution is required.
- This is not a U.S. government census. Directories and volunteer maps disagree because they count buildings, campuses, and proposals differently.
- A separately researched layer of planned projects from public records is not included in this snapshot.
- National studies cited in the guides keep their own sources and dates on those pages.
Last reviewed: November 9, 2026. ## What is included?
This snapshot includes 2,037 facilities in 47 states and 296 counties. OpenStreetMap database timestamp: 2026-09-07T11:55:26Z. Retrieved 2026-11-09. Status counts in this file: 1,923 operating, 112 building, 2 planned.
This map includes OpenStreetMap elements tagged telecom=data_center, building=data_center, or industrial=data_center / industrial=data_centre, plus construction or proposed variants when those tags are present. Each point shows its OpenStreetMap object as the source and the date this snapshot was checked.
Status on a point is taken from those tags when they are clear: operating, under construction, proposed, or unknown / confirm. We do not invent megawatt ratings or facility names. If OpenStreetMap has no name, the listing is shown as an unnamed data center.
What is missing?
Many operating and planned sites are not in OpenStreetMap. Some operators do not publicize locations. New applications appear faster than volunteers can map them. County assignment uses the point location against U.S. county boundaries and can miss a site if coordinates are poor.
This snapshot does not include a separately curated list of planned facilities from hearing notices or news reports. The planned legend remains so that those points can be shown when a sourced record is added. Until then, treat proposed data centers as a verification guide rather than a complete pipeline list.
How is OpenStreetMap data licensed?
OpenStreetMap data is © OpenStreetMap contributors and is available under the Open Database License. If you use our map points, you must also credit OpenStreetMap. See openstreetmap.org/copyright.
How will this dataset be updated?
The build plan is an OpenStreetMap snapshot plus an editorial review on a weekly or monthly cadence, as described in the site brief. Guide pages cite their underlying studies with dates. Figures from Pew, Berkeley Lab, EIA, ERCOT, and local governments stay on the pages where they are sourced and are not mixed into a single invented national total.
Map tiles use OpenFreeMap, which is based on OpenStreetMap data. Address search uses the U.S. Census Bureau geocoder, with Nominatim (OpenStreetMap) as a fallback.