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Datacenter Sites in Iowa

Iowa has 2,572 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 56.3/100 DC Readiness. Industrial parcels lead the inventory (928 sites). Most sites interconnect through MISO. The state's candidate sites carry a catalogued aggregate of 82.3k MW and average a 4.3 yrs interconnection-queue wait.

At a glance

Iowa has 2,572 scored datacenter candidate sites, the 23rd-most of the 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico, averaging 56.3/100 DC Readiness against a national average of 53.0. Its average score ranks 8th among states. The state also has 91 operating datacenters and 25 internet exchange facilities on record.

2,572
Candidate sites
56.3/100
Avg DC Readiness
82.3k MW
Catalogued capacity
theoretical aggregate
4.3 yrs
Avg queue wait
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≥ 7560–7540–60≤ 40
Top 25 in Iowa

How does Iowa compare with other states for datacenter sites?

By number of scored candidate sites, Iowa ranks 23rd of the 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico (2,572 of 147,272 nationally, 1.7%). Its average DC Readiness of 56.3/100 ranks 8th and is roughly in line with the national average of 53.0. The average interconnection-queue wait at its sites, 4.3-year, is the 23rd-shortest of the group (national 4.2-year).

Across the five headline sub-scores, Iowa is strongest relative to the nation on water (87.3 vs 72.3 nationally) and weakest on power availability (36.7 vs 37.4). Power and speed to power carry 20% of the score each, fiber 12%, water 7% and hazard 6%.

Which counties in Iowa have the most datacenter sites?

Black Hawk County (126 sites, average 58.4), Pottawattamie County (123 sites, average 57.0), and Clinton County (118 sites, average 54.2) hold the largest inventories. Together the top 3 account for 14% of the state's scored sites. Mills County has the highest average score among counties with at least 10 sites (62.3/100). 85 counties have five or more scored sites and their own county page.

What kinds of sites and grid regions are in Iowa?

Industrial parcels are the largest category (928, 36%), followed by substation-adjacent (761) and greenfield (634). Sites span 3 grid regions; MISO covers 99% of them.

By site type

By grid region

Average sub-score profile

How Iowa's candidate sites score on each DC Readiness dimension (0–100 average).

Power availability
36.7
Speed-to-power
49.7
Fiber
77.3
Water
87.3
Hazard resilience
68.5

Top 25 datacenter sites in Iowa

Ranked by DC Readiness.

Top datacenter sites in Iowa
SiteTypeCountyVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
WALTER SCOTT ENERGY CENTERSubstation-AdjacentMills County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs70.2
UNKNOWN130427Substation-AdjacentDakota County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs69.9
BONDURANTSubstation-AdjacentPolk County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs69.3
GREATER DES MOINES ENERGY CENTERSubstation-AdjacentPolk County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs69.1
SE POLKSubstation-AdjacentPolk County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs69.0
UNKNOWN137755Substation-AdjacentMills County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs69.0
UNKNOWN131416Substation-AdjacentMills County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs69.0
UNKNOWN131382Substation-AdjacentScott County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs68.2
TIFFINSubstation-AdjacentJohnson County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs68.1
GRIMESSubstation-AdjacentDallas County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs68.1
SIOUX CITYSubstation-AdjacentPlymouth County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs68.0
SYCAMORESubstation-AdjacentPolk County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs68.0
BLACK HAWKSubstation-AdjacentBlack Hawk County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs67.8
UNKNOWN131604Substation-AdjacentScott County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs67.7
SUB 91Substation-AdjacentScott County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs67.6
UNKNOWN131605Substation-AdjacentRock Island County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs67.3
Alliant SBD 9302 Aegon NPBrownfieldLinn—1 MW4.3 yrs67.2
HILLSSubstation-AdjacentJohnson County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs67.2
ARNOLDSubstation-AdjacentLinn County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs67.0
NORWALKSubstation-AdjacentWarren County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs66.9
HAZLETONSubstation-AdjacentBuchanan County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs66.7
BOONEVILLESubstation-AdjacentMadison County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs66.5
EC Near Walter Scott Jr Energy CenterGreenfieldPottawattamie——4.3 yrs66.1
ROCK CREEKSubstation-AdjacentClinton County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs65.9
Harriet Street Solar FieldBrownfieldPolk69 kV1 MW4.3 yrs65.9

Counties in Iowa

85 counties with five or more scored sites.

Black Hawk County126 · 58.4Pottawattamie County123 · 57.0Clinton County118 · 54.2Johnson County112 · 57.9Linn County105 · 58.3Dubuque County101 · 55.8Woodbury County94 · 58.0Dallas County92 · 54.8Polk County84 · 60.5Webster County80 · 54.5Marshall County70 · 54.1Muscatine County62 · 57.2Scott County61 · 59.2Wapello County49 · 52.1Story46 · 59.1Sioux County39 · 55.3Clayton38 · 55.5Dickinson County38 · 58.2Des Moines37 · 53.6Buena Vista36 · 54.9Mahaska County34 · 52.9Bremer County32 · 58.9O'Brien County32 · 58.1Marion County30 · 54.6Poweshiek30 · 57.7Cass County27 · 56.0Allamakee26 · 55.5Cherokee County26 · 53.7Jackson County26 · 55.7Winnebago County26 · 58.6Lee25 · 54.9Adair24 · 53.9Cedar24 · 59.6Plymouth County23 · 58.6Delaware22 · 57.5Fayette County22 · 53.0Shelby County22 · 55.3Appanoose21 · 56.0Emmet County21 · 58.9Ida County20 · 54.9Crawford County19 · 54.8Monona County19 · 53.6Sac County19 · 54.9Henry County17 · 56.1Warren County17 · 60.7Iowa16 · 58.1Adams15 · 57.1Lyon County15 · 58.0Carroll County14 · 55.1Clay County14 · 59.5Kossuth County14 · 56.7Union14 · 57.0Cerro Gordo County13 · 59.7Hancock County13 · 57.1Harrison County13 · 54.2Benton County12 · 58.9Winneshiek County12 · 50.4Worth County12 · 59.2Calhoun County11 · 55.5Madison County11 · 57.9Mills County11 · 62.3Osceola County11 · 54.4Davis County10 · 55.3Floyd County10 · 54.8Mitchell County10 · 54.3Hardin County9 · 58.6Clarke County8 · 54.6Franklin County8 · 56.3Boone County7 · 58.2Chickasaw County7 · 52.4Fremont County7 · 55.5Jasper County7 · 56.3Palo Alto County7 · 53.6Pocahontas County7 · 56.0Van Buren County7 · 53.5Guthrie County6 · 54.1Montgomery County6 · 54.4Page County6 · 56.7Wright County6 · 56.2Audubon County5 · 53.9Greene County5 · 55.1Grundy County5 · 55.5Howard County5 · 50.2Louisa County5 · 55.5Tama County5 · 54.6

Sites in Iowa counties with fewer than five sites

30 scored sites sit in counties too small for a county page of their own.

Operating datacenters in Iowa

91 operating datacenter facilities in Iowa are on record, the 7th-most of any state. West Des Moines has the largest cluster (7 facilities). The operators with the most facilities here are Microsoft (24), Google (23), Meta (9). Footprints are recorded for 62 of them, totalling about 53.7 million square feet.

West Des Moines (7)

Cedar Rapids (2)

Des Moines (2)

Mason City (2)

Sioux City (2)

Bettendorf (1)

Boone (1)

Cedar Falls (1)

Davenport (1)

Hiawatha (1)

Iowa Falls (1)

Jesup (1)

Marion (1)

Monticello (1)

North Liberty (1)

Spencer (1)

Urbana (1)

Urbandale (1)

Waterloo (1)

Waukee (1)

City not recorded (51)

Internet exchange and peering facilities in Iowa

25 peering and colocation facilities in Iowa are listed in PeeringDB. Des Moines has the most (3). The best-connected facility hosts 19 networks; the median facility in the state hosts 2 networks.

Des Moines (3)

Altoona (2)

Cedar Falls (2)

Mason City (2)

Sioux City (2)

Bettendorf (1)

Boone (1)

Davenport (1)

Hiawatha (1)

Iowa Falls (1)

Jesup (1)

Marion (1)

Monticello (1)

North Liberty (1)

Spencer (1)

Urbana (1)

Urbandale (1)

Waterloo (1)

Waukee (1)

Iowa datacenter site selection FAQ

How many datacenter sites are in Iowa?

GridCensus catalogs 2,572 scored datacenter candidate sites in Iowa, with an average DC Readiness score of 56.3/100. That is the 23rd-largest inventory of the 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico.

How many operating datacenters are in Iowa?

91 operating datacenter facilities in Iowa are on record, the 7th-most of any state. West Des Moines has the most (7). Microsoft operates the most facilities in the state (24).

What is the average interconnection-queue wait in Iowa?

Candidate sites in Iowa average a 4.3-year interconnection-queue wait, with an average queue depth of 107 projects. The national average across all scored sites is 4.2-year, and Iowa has the 23rd-shortest average wait of the 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico.

Which county in Iowa has the most datacenter sites?

Black Hawk County has the most scored candidate sites in Iowa (126), followed by Pottawattamie County (123) and Clinton County (118). Among counties with at least 10 sites, Mills County has the highest average DC Readiness (62.3/100).

What kind of datacenter sites are most common in Iowa?

Industrial sites are the most common category in Iowa (928 sites, 36% of the inventory), and most sites fall within the MISO grid region.

How many internet exchange facilities are in Iowa?

25 peering and colocation facilities listed in PeeringDB are in Iowa. Des Moines has the most (3). The best-connected one hosts 19 networks.

Looking for a specific record? The directory lists every scored datacenter site in Iowa, A to Z.

More Iowa infrastructure

About this data

Source: GridCensus composite of HIFLD transmission and substation data, EIA, FEMA National Risk Index, FCC broadband data, PeeringDB and ISO interconnection queues, as published November 12, 2026 — GridCensus refreshes it monthly. See the methodology for how records are matched, cleaned and scored.

Cite as: GridCensus, “Datacenter candidate sites in Iowa”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/iowa (data as of November 12, 2026).

Dataset updated . Screening estimates derived from public data sources.

Go deeper than the public screen

Every site and score for Iowa is free to browse. Pro adds Watchtower on 25 sites, alerts when new candidate sites, datacenters or interconnection-queue requests appear in your markets, score and capacity history, and CSV export. Enterprise adds team seats, weekly data files for all 147,272 sites, the REST API and an MCP server for AI tools.

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