Data Centers Reshape US Housing, But Not Uniformly

As data center construction surges across the United States, a first-of-its-kind study from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has found that the facilities’ effect on housing markets is anything but uniform, with some communities reaping economic gains and others confronting housing shortages and strained infrastructure, NPR reports.

Released Sept. 8-9, 2026, the 2026 Data Center Impact Report combines a national, state and county-level analysis of roughly 1,500 mapped data centers with a survey of more than 2,300 real estate agents. Its central conclusion: there is no single “data center effect.”

“We talk about data centers as though they are one category, and they are not,” said Nadia Evangelou, NAR’s principal economist and lead author of the report. “Northern Virginia, Silicon Valley, Phoenix, Central Ohio and Grant County, Washington, are all very different places. They have different economies, they have different markets and different reasons for attracting data centers. So when we look at things like home values, employment, electricity rates, we didn’t find one pattern that can explain all of them.”

Highly Concentrated Footprint

Despite the accelerating build-out, the industry remains concentrated in a small number of markets. According to the NAR press release, 92% of the more than 3,200 U.S. counties analyzed have no mapped data centers, and only 1% have 10 or more. Researchers identified 1,474 facilities across 251 counties.

Northern Virginia dominates the landscape. Loudoun and Prince William counties alone account for about 19% of all mapped data centers nationwide. Loudoun County leads the country with 213 facilities, according to HousingWire. Other major clusters include Silicon Valley, central Ohio, the Phoenix area and central Washington state. The 10 counties with the most data centers hold roughly 42% of all facilities.

“This may be a national conversation, but the actual realistic impact is very concentrated in a relatively small number of local markets,” Evangelou said.

A Tale of Two Markets

Where data centers cluster, county-level data shows stronger economic indicators. The median home value in counties with 10 or more data centers is $431,750, compared with $174,500 in counties without them. Home values in high-concentration counties grew 95% between 2014 and 2024, versus 64% elsewhere, and employment grew about 16%, compared with just 2%.

But NAR is explicit that correlation is not causation. Many of these counties were already affluent, highly educated technology hubs before the recent surge. Median household income sits at about $89,000 in the high-concentration counties versus $64,000 elsewhere, and 41% of adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 22% in counties with no data centers.

“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.”

Abilene: A Case Study in Strain

The clearest illustration of the pressure data centers can place on a housing market is Abilene, Texas, where the $500-billion Stargate Project — a facility operated by Oracle for OpenAI that will span roughly 4 million square feet — is under construction. It is set to become the largest data center in the nation.

Local realtor Steve Stovall said the influx of workers has generated revenue and strengthened the commercial economy, but has also created a housing crunch. “The people who were going to sell have sold. The rentals are full. The hotels are full. Many of the rentals have become Airbnbs or short-term rentals and the prices are all just going up,” he said. The median home price in Abilene is now about $342,000, up from roughly $250,000 six years ago. Two more large data centers have already been approved for construction on the town’s outskirts.

Utility Costs and Local Concerns

Electricity has emerged as a flashpoint. Residential rates rose 21.4% from 2020 to 2024 in counties with 10 or more data centers, versus 15.7% in counties without them. NAR cautions that the increase did not scale linearly with the number of facilities and that rate data is measured at the state level, limiting causal claims.

Among surveyed realtors, energy costs were the top client concern at 61%, followed by water use at 56%, environmental contamination at 43% and impact on the immediate landscape at 32%. Perceptions of residential impact were mixed: 25% reported a positive effect on nearby home values and 22% a negative one, while about a third were unsure. The commercial picture was more clearly positive, with half of respondents reporting higher nearby commercial property values.

In Abilene, the tension has spilled into a regulatory fight. Crusoe Energy Systems is seeking to expand the on-site Longhorn Data Center Power Plant from 10 gas turbines to 49. Texas state Rep. Stan Lambert, a Republican who represents the area, requested an in-person public meeting, extending the public comment period, the Abilene Reporter-News reported. The watchdog group Oil & Gas Watch estimates the expansion could add more than 6.7 million tons of greenhouse gases annually.

Separately, a Realtor.com analysis found that the share of U.S. home sales occurring within five miles of a large data center has more than doubled since 2018, rising from 0.67% to about 1.5% in 2026, HousingWire reported. The number of large facilities nationwide rose more than sevenfold, from 49 to 347. Notably, facilities activated in 2026 were located in ZIP codes with incomes about 2.1% below the national median, suggesting data centers are moving farther from cities and into lower-income areas.

What to Watch

NAR advises agents and homeowners to focus on the property level rather than national trends. “Even half a mile away can make a difference,” Evangelou said. The association intends to publish an update to its study within about six months, and says it will track where the next wave of data centers lands.

With data centers becoming a major issue ahead of the 2026 midterms — drawing concern from conservatives over property rights and electricity prices and from environmental groups over water use and grid strain — the debate over who benefits and who bears the costs of the AI build-out is likely to intensify. As World Property Journal put it, the data-center effect isn’t national — it’s local.