Ashburn, New Albany, West Des Moines and Mount Pleasant rebut the claim that data centers are located only in poor or nonwhite areas.
NATIONAL RESEARCH · RACE · INCOME · PUBLIC COST
Who hosts the
data-center boom?
Representative state and ZIP reports comparing affluent or predominantly White communities with lower-income and frontline communities.
BOTTOM LINE
The pattern is unequal—but not one-dimensional.
Large data centers operate in wealthy suburbs, modest-income small cities and poor communities of color. The strongest evidence in this representative sample is not that every facility is steered toward one racial group. It is that communities enter negotiations with very different leverage, existing pollution, housing pressure and ability to demand protections.
Southwest Memphis combines very large electric demand and on-site gas generation with a predominantly Black population and pre-existing pollution burdens.
Richland Parish and The Dalles are majority-White places with far less income than the affluent comparison sites.
Special tariffs, cost-allocation rules, tax policy, air permits, water disclosure and local benefit requirements determine who carries risk.
STATE + ZIP INDEX
Open every community report
ZIP codes are used as public navigation labels, not as proven impact boundaries. Each report states whether its demographics describe a ZIP, city, county or five-mile study area.
VA · 20147Operating and expanding
Northern Virginia data-center cluster
Ashburn / Loudoun County · AWS, Digital Realty, Equinix, NTT and others
A mature cluster in one of the nation’s wealthiest counties shows that data centers are not confined to poor or nonwhite communities. A deep tax base and long-running county oversight shape the local bargain.
- Income
- Loudoun County median household income: $156,821 (2023)
- Race
- This is not a uniformly White community; the case is included primarily as a high-income comparison.
OH · 43054Operating and expanding
Central Ohio data-center campuses
New Albany · Google, Meta and AWS
New Albany is a strong affluent comparison: multiple hyperscalers built or expanded in a place with household income far above national and state levels.
- Income
- City median household income: $238,250 (2020–2024)
- Race
- New Albany is a majority-White community; ZIP and city boundaries are not identical.
IA · 50265Operating and expanding
Microsoft Iowa campuses
West Des Moines · Microsoft
This prosperous suburban case demonstrates that high water use can become controversial even where local fiscal capacity is comparatively strong.
- Income
- 50265 median household income: $85,915
- Race
- The city is majority White and more diverse than many Iowa communities.
WI · 53177Operating and expanding
Fairwater AI campus
Mount Pleasant / Racine County · Microsoft
A high-investment project in a comparatively affluent, majority-White community has still generated quality-of-life conflict, showing that burden is not limited to low-income places.
- Income
- Village median household income: $91,616 (2020–2024)
- Race
- Mount Pleasant is a majority-White suburban community.
TN · 38109Operating and expanding
Colossus 1 and related xAI buildout
Southwest Memphis · xAI / SpaceXAI
This is the clearest frontline case in the sample: a large AI campus with on-site gas generation sits beside a predominantly Black community already carrying significant cumulative pollution burdens.
- Income
- Household income is well below the national level; use the linked ACS profile for the latest estimate and margin of error.
- Race
- A Reuters five-mile analysis found the Tennessee-side population around the site was about 94% Black.
LA · 71269Under construction and expanding
Hyperion
Holly Ridge / Richland Parish · Meta
This case complicates a simple White-versus-Black story: a very large project is transforming a poor rural parish with both White and Black residents.
- Income
- Roughly one-quarter of parish residents live in poverty.
- Race
- The parish is about 59% White and 37% Black (2020 Census), showing that class and race do not collapse into one category.
TX · 79601Two buildings operating; six progressing
Stargate flagship campus
Abilene / Taylor County · Crusoe / Oracle for OpenAI
Abilene is neither an affluent enclave nor an overwhelmingly nonwhite frontline community. Its experience highlights housing and fiscal risk in a lower-cost regional market.
- Income
- City median household income is below the national figure; poverty is about 15%.
- Race
- Abilene is majority non-Hispanic White with substantial Hispanic and Black populations.
OR · 97058Operating and expanded
Google data-center campus
The Dalles / Wasco County · Google
This long-running rural/small-city case shows that a majority-White community can still have modest income and limited water-system leverage.
- Income
- 97058 median household income: $62,181; poverty: 11.4%
- Race
- The area is majority White with a meaningful Hispanic population.
What this research can—and cannot—prove
This is a representative, source-linked case study set, not a complete census of every U.S. data center. It can compare documented community conditions and public bargains. It cannot by itself establish discriminatory intent or a national causal siting rule.
- Race and income use the smallest reliable public geography available.
- Host ZIP does not mean every resident is equally exposed.
- Company promises, projections, allegations and final findings are labeled separately.
- Figures should be rechecked before legal, permitting or investment decisions.
National evidence
A peer-reviewed-style national inventory estimated 2,132 operating U.S. data centers in its 2023–2024 study window, consuming 4.59% of U.S. electricity. A separate health-impact analysis projects large air-pollution costs if electricity demand rises as forecast. Federal laboratory work estimated data centers used 4.4% of U.S. electricity in 2023 and could reach 6.7%–12% by 2028.