Data centers have become a focal point of American life. Love them or hate them, they’re being built, and fast. But how do these centers impact local housing markets?
A September report from the National Association of REALTORS® found no identifiable “data-center effect” in markets with a large data center presence. However, Zoocasa recently dove deeper into the data for America’s top five most saturated markets and found a concerning trend.
The bottom line? In the last six years, counties with more data centers tended to see lower home price growth or decreased sales compared to counties with fewer or no data centers. Here’s how each area compares.
“Although data centers have been around for a long time, people have gotten more weary of them in recent years, and the data reflects that. It’s not always obvious how that impact is felt, though,” Zoocasa Industry Relations Officer Brittany Kostov said. “For areas like Virginia, the effects show up in both prices and sales, but California has mainly seen slower sales growth. Sometimes an area with data centers is still seeing higher prices and sales, it’s just not growing quite as fast as its peers. The impact is so individualized, but our research shows that data centers do tend to have an effect on the housing market.”
Price Growth Cut in Half for Loudoun County in Virginia
Virginia has by far the highest concentration of data centers in the nation at 319 facilities, more than double the next-highest state of Texas at 127. Loudoun County, VA, has the most data centers of any county, with a concentration of 213.
Price Impact
Data centers aren’t spread equally across the county, however, with most concentrated in four ZIP codes. When comparing ZIP codes with data centers to those with few or none, the contrast is stark: prices in ZIP codes without data centers grew on average about twice as fast over the past six years.
The average percent change in prices from 2019-26 for areas with data centers was 36.6%, while the average for areas with few or no data centers was 62.7%, according to data from the Dulles Area Association of REALTORS®.
ZIP code 20105 has the largest concentration of data centers across the county. While the area experienced a massive surge in prices in 2022-25, those prices came right back down in Sept. 2026. Price growth in ZIP codes 20147 and 20148 settled around 37%-40%, lower than any ZIP code without data centers in Loudoun County. ZIP code 20175 did see a 63% increase over the past six years, although that has just brought the area up to par with its surrounding ZIP codes.
Meanwhile, ZIP codes without data centers saw price increases of 42%-83% over the last six years, and the countywide home price increased by almost 50%.
The takeaway is clear: while a higher concentration of data centers is connected to overall price growth in the county, growth is not distributed equally, and the areas closest to data centers are getting the short end of the stick.
Sales Impact
Home sales, on the other hand, create a more complex story. While sales have collectively decreased since 2019, the difference between areas with data centers and without them is much narrower. In this case, ZIP codes with data centers averaged a 39% decrease in home sales since 2019, compared to 43% in areas without data centers.
For Loudoun County, the impact of data centers has shown up more in the sale prices for homes than the number of homes being sold.
Average Price Growth Hindered in Virginia
Beyond Loudoun County, there are nine other counties in Virginia with data centers. Prince William County has the third-highest number of data centers nationwide at 63, while Fairfax ranks 12th with 27.
Data from Virginia REALTORS® shows that, on average, counties with data centers tend to experience lower overall home price growth than those without them. The average home price growth for counties with data centers from 2019-26 was 50.%, compared to 80% for 117 counties in Virginia without data centers.
Additionally, the data shows that home prices decreased by 7.8% on average since Sept. 2019 in areas with data centers, compared to a 9.8% increase on average in areas without data centers.
Combined with the individual ZIP code data in Loudoun, these numbers show a clear trend of data centers correlating to overall lower housing price performance across Virginia. However, correlation is not causation, and these findings should be contextualized further to fully understand the impact of data centers on Virginia’s home market.
Sales Dip in 75% of California Counties with Data Centers
Across 52 counties in California, there are 12 with data centers. Of those 12 counties, nine fall in the bottom 50% based on their average sales growth since 2019, according to data from the California Association of REALTORS®.
Beyond falling in the bottom half, there wasn’t a direct correlation between a higher number of data centers and higher losses. For instance, Riverside had the second-lowest percent change at 0.06% down and has one data center, while Alameda was only down 0.002% and has five data centers.
Prices tell a different story. While Virginia saw prices fall near data centers, more counties with data centers saw prices increase than decrease in California from 2019-26. With 75 data centers, Santa Clara County home prices increased 56% over six years, while Los Angeles County prices increased 50%, with 10 data centers. Amongst counties with data centers, prices increased the most in Orange County at 78%.
Ultimately, California counties paint an interesting contrast to Virginia. While California counties with data centers tend to show slower sales growth, Virginia counties tend to show slower price growth. This shows how truly localized housing market impacts can be when it comes to data centers, and proves the need for further study to understand their impact holistically.
Sales Slide in Maricopa County for ZIP Codes with Data Centers
Similar to California, ZIP codes with data centers in Maricopa County, AZ, tend to show steeper sales losses than those without them, according to data from Arizona Regional MLS.
ZIP codes with existing operational data centers saw the percent change in closed sales decrease by 44.7% on average, compared to a 32.3% decline in ZIP codes without data centers. The price percent increase on average was also smaller in ZIP codes with data centers, at 62.9% compared to 71.7% for areas without data centers.
Notably, a higher number of data centers didn’t necessarily correlate with a higher sales decline. In fact, the two ZIP codes with the highest number of data centers–85338 and 85212–each had some of the smallest home sale percent declines within the dataset on data centers, although their price growth was on par with other areas.
Overall, this likely means that areas where data centers are well-established have already felt the impact, while areas with newly established data centers are more prone to sales and price fluctuations.
Washington Home Price Growth Hampered in Data Center Counties
Grant County in Washington has the fifth-highest number of data centers in the country at 39.
While home sale data isn’t available for Washington, the home prices speak for themselves: counties with data centers on average have slower price growth than counties without data centers.
The average percent change in prices for the nine counties with data centers in Washington was 53%, compared to 60.4% for counties without data centers, according to data from the Washington Center for Real Estate Research.
Although data centers may not actively bring prices down in Washington, the data shows that the presence of data centers correlates to slower price growth compared to areas without them.
Zooming Out on the Data Center Impact
Beyond the housing market, data centers have other impacts on the communities they serve.
Among the top 10 counties with the most data centers, a higher number of centers tended to correlate with higher median incomes, a more educated population and higher employment rates, according to NAR’s report.
That being said, there was a 0.38% median industrial electricity rate increase among the top 10 counties with data centers, compared to a 0.15% increase in counties without data centers. This increase in industrial electricity usage has been a sticking point for many anti-data center advocates, with a recent Gallup poll finding that 50% of respondents mentioned resource impacts as a reason they oppose data centers.
Loudoun, Maricopa and Prince William have the largest reported power capacity, ranging from 8,000 megawatts to over 18,000. For context, one megawatt of power can reportedly power from 200 to 650 homes. With such high rates of electricity usage, many cite higher utility bills as another reason for opposing data centers in the Gallup poll.
How to Weigh the Impact of Data Centers on the Housing Market
While the NAR’s finding that there is no singular “data center effect” holds true, for the top five counties with the most data centers, they generally fall into one of two camps: either home prices or sales have been driven down compared to other areas without data centers.
It’s not possible to concretely point to data centers as the sole cause for slower home price growth or lower sales, and it’s clear the impact is highly localized. Regardless, local data does show a correlation between housing market declines and a higher number of data centers.
When it comes to your homebuying decision, it’s important to take into account what you value most in your future house, and to do the research on your local market to draw conclusions about how a data center might impact your future resale prospects. Not every county with a data center is impacted equally by its presence, and some even see large price growth compared to their peers. Taking the time to make an informed decision is the best way to ensure your future home makes financial sense for you and your family in the long run.
Looking to make the leap to one of these counties? Zoocasa can help you find the right home for you. Reach out today.
Methodology
Zoocasa pulled the top five counties with the most data centers from the National Association of REALTOR’s 2026 Data Center Impact Report. For each of the five, the percent change in home sales and median home prices was pulled from local or statewide real estate boards, either for the county or individual ZIP codes, when available. The percent change in sales and values was averaged for counties/ZIP codes with data centers versus without them and compared to show the difference in sales and price growth over time. Zoocasa used the NAR report to determine which counties within a given state have data centers, and cross-referenced maps from Data Center Tracker and local ZIP code maps to determine which ZIP codes have data centers. Individual sources for data can be found in the footnotes of each graphic.
