Most Data Center Bans Are in Metro Areas, Despite More Facilities Heading for Rural Areas

Building data centers is broadly unpopular across the political spectrum, but so far, banning new development is a mostly metropolitan area phenomenon. While more data centers are located in metropolitan areas than nonmetropolitan ones, two-thirds of all new facilities are planned for rural communities.

The rural data center boom comes amidst rising backlash to the facilities. Earlier this year, my colleague Sarah Melotte and I mapped rural opposition to data centers...