While the political debate over data center siting and construction has begun to dominate this year’s election cycle, a new study from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has determined the issue is not as widespread as many people might believe.
NAR’s 2026 Data Center Impact Report found these facilities mostly concentrated in a small number of markets – 92% of the U.S. counties have no mapped data centers and only 1% have 10 or more.
Some of the largest clusters of data centers are located in Northern Virginia, where Loudoun and Prince William counties alone account for about 19% of all mapped data centers nationwide. Other major clusters include Silicon Valley (5%), central Ohio (5%), the Phoenix area (4%) and central Washington (4%).
Furthermore, NAR’s research affirmed that the counties with more data centers generally have higher home values, higher incomes and stronger long-term job growth than counties without them. The median home value in counties without data centers is $174,500, while the median home value in counties with 10 or more data centers is $431,750. Home values in those high-concentration counties grew 95% over the past decade, compared with 64% in counties without data centers.
But NAR also cautioned that the higher median home price and stronger price growth were not necessarily driven by the presence of data centers. Those counties were already high-income, highly educated technology hubs before the new facilities arrived.
“There is no single data center effect. Instead, the story varies significantly depending on the local market,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “The number of data centers alone does not tell us what will happen to home values, jobs or utility costs.”
Nonetheless, popular opinion of data centers remains mixed. NAR noted that 25% of survey respondents saw a positive effect on nearby home values and 22% saw a negative one. The negative views were fueled by concerns over energy costs (61%) and water use (56%). And there might be reason for apprehension: 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 these facilities.
The commercial picture was more clearly positive, with 50% reporting increased nearby commercial property values, and 42% reporting increased demand for nearby commercial space, particularly industrial properties and land.
“We do not see evidence of weaker housing markets in counties with a large data center presence,” Yun added. “But these are county-level numbers, and they can’t tell us what happens to an individual home next to a facility. That’s why local knowledge and credible data matter so much right now.”
NAR added that it did not have an official policy position on data centers but was only putting the report forth to “better understand their potential impacts on housing, commercial real estate, local economies, and communities as the issue continues to evolve.”
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