The U.S. data-center boom is creating a new force in commercial real estate, but its impact on housing is far less uniform.
A new 2026 analysis by the National Association of Realtors finds that counties with large concentrations of data centers generally have higher home values, household incomes and employment growth than counties without them. But the research does not establish that data centers caused those advantages.
Lawrence Yun
Instead, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun says there is “no single data center effect.” Local economic conditions, infrastructure, housing markets and proximity to technology centers all matter.
Data Centers Are Highly Concentrated
Despite their rapid expansion, data centers remain concentrated in a relatively small number of U.S. markets.
NAR found that 92% of more than 3,200 counties analyzed have no mapped data centers, while only 1% have 10 or more.
Northern Virginia is the dominant hub, with Loudoun, Prince William and Fairfax counties accounting for about 21% of U.S. data centers. Other major concentrations include Silicon Valley at about 5%, central Ohio at 5%, the Phoenix area at 4% and central Washington at 4%. The 10 counties with the most data centers account for about 42% of facilities nationwide, with Loudoun County alone representing roughly 14%.
Stronger Markets, But Not Necessarily Because of Data Centers
Counties with 10 or more data centers have a median home value of $431,750, compared with $174,500 in counties without data centers. Home values in the high-concentration counties rose 95% from 2014 to 2024, versus 64% in counties without them.
Employment also grew faster–about 16% versus 2%.
But NAR cautions that these figures should not be interpreted as evidence that data centers drove housing appreciation. Many of these markets were already wealthier, more highly educated technology centers with strong professional economies and infrastructure attractive to data-center developers.
Median household income is about $89,000 in counties with 10 or more data centers, compared with $64,000 in counties without them. About 41% of adults in the high-concentration counties have bachelor’s degrees or higher, versus 22% elsewhere.
Commercial Real Estate Looks More Favorable
The commercial impact is considerably more positive.
Half of Realtors surveyed said nearby commercial property values had increased in markets with data centers, while 42% reported greater demand for nearby commercial space.
Industrial property was the most frequently cited beneficiary, followed by land. About 22% of respondents said nearby commercial property values had increased by more than 10%.
The pattern suggests that data-center development can generate secondary demand for industrial land, infrastructure and related businesses.
Housing Results Are Mixed
Residential real estate tells a different story.
Among Realtors surveyed, 25% reported a positive effect on nearby home values, while 22% reported a negative effect. About one-third were unsure.
Demand was similarly divided: 26% said demand for nearby residential property had decreased, 27% saw no change and 19% reported an increase.
The findings reinforce a critical distinction between a strong countywide housing market and the experience of a homeowner living immediately next to a data center.
Noise, visibility, traffic, water use, power infrastructure and future expansion can all affect individual properties differently.
The New Real Estate Fundamentals
For decades, investors have evaluated markets through population growth, employment, household formation, interest rates and housing supply.
The AI economy is adding another layer of market intelligence: the physical infrastructure required to support computing.
That includes:
- Power availability and cost
- Water availability
- Electric-grid and transmission capacity
- Fiber connectivity
- Industrial land
- Tax and development incentives
- Proximity to technology hubs and population centers
For data-center markets, these factors can influence where capital flows, where development occurs and how surrounding property markets respond.
Electricity Is a Growing Concern
Energy costs were the top concern cited by Realtors’ clients, at 61%, followed by water use at 56%. Other concerns included perceived environmental contamination at 43% and effects on the immediate landscape at 32%.
Residential electricity rates rose 21.4% from 2020 to 2024 in counties with 10 or more data centers, compared with 15.7% in counties without them.
But NAR cautions that the relationship is not causal: electricity rates did not consistently increase as the number of data centers increased, and the available rate data is measured at the state rather than county level.
The Bottom Line
The data-center boom is not producing one national real estate outcome.
In some markets, it is associated with stronger commercial values, industrial demand, employment and investment. In others, residents are focused on electricity, water and the effects of large facilities on surrounding neighborhoods.
The most important question for investors may therefore not be how many data centers a market has, but why they are there–and whether the market has the infrastructure to support them.
AI may be digital, but its economic footprint is physical.
It requires land, buildings, power, water and connectivity. As that infrastructure expands, understanding those physical constraints may become an increasingly important part of evaluating real estate markets.
As Yun put it, county-level data cannot tell investors what happens to an individual home next to a facility.
The data-center effect isn’t national. It’s local–and the infrastructure beneath each market may increasingly determine who benefits from the AI economy and who bears its costs.
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