Data Center Map, a widely-used industry resource, has compiled a searchable database that shows where the facilities are located. As of late December, Ohio was home to 217 data centers, the fifth-most of any U.S. state.
More than half are in central Ohio. The Columbus area is the top location with 113 data centers. The Cleveland area ranks a distant second with 23 facilities, followed by the Cincinnati area with 20.
After more than a decade of strong support from state leaders, data centers are facing increased political opposition at the local level – especially as developers focus on more rural areas for new projects.
Signal Ohio recently published an in-depth report showing how residents’ concerns about rising electricity prices and the facilities’ environmental impact have led to packed public meetings, local referendums and temporary moratoriums in some communities.
The story followed a year’s worth of Signal reporting on data centers, including:
- Efforts by American Electric Power to make data center operators, not electricity customers, pay for their power grid upgrades
- How a new application of state law allowed data centers to tap an existing state tax incentive to help fund the natural gas plants some are building to power their operations
- How data centers have received state tax breaks worth more than $2.7 billion over eight years, although a study commissioned by a major business group also found they contributed $3.4 billion to the Ohio economy just in 2024