Datacenter Sites in Palo Alto County, Iowa
Palo Alto County has 7 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 53.6/100 DC Readiness, with a catalogued aggregate of 100 MW. FEMA rates local natural-hazard risk as "Relatively Moderate". The county has a datacenter tax incentive on record.
At a glance
Palo Alto County, Iowa has 7 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 53.6/100 DC Readiness, roughly in line with the Iowa average of 56.3. It ranks 69th of 85 Iowa counties by number of sites and 76th by average score. The top-scoring site is Substation-Adjacent site · 5a387c52 at 59.8/100.
Site-selection context for Palo Alto County
Incentive detail: Sales tax exemption on DC equipment for $1M+ investments; property tax phase-in for new construction.
How does Palo Alto County compare with other counties in Iowa?
By number of scored sites, Palo Alto County ranks 69th of the 85 Iowa counties with a county page, holding 0.3% of the state's 2,572 sites. Its average DC Readiness of 53.6/100 ranks 76th in the state and is roughly in line with the national average of 53.0. Nationally it has the 2670th-largest site inventory of 2,964 counties with five or more sites. 0 sites score 70 or higher and 1 score 55 or higher.
What types of datacenter sites are in Palo Alto County?
Industrial sites are the most common (5, 71% of the county's inventory), followed by substation-adjacent (1) and former mine (1). Site type reflects how the parcel was identified — next to a substation, on a former mine or brownfield, on industrial or federal excess land — and is scored on the same 14 factors either way.
What are power cost, hazard, water and fiber conditions in Palo Alto County?
Industrial electricity averages 7.36¢/kWh and commercial 11.35¢/kWh. FEMA's National Risk Index rates the county "Relatively Moderate" (30). WRI water stress is low. 10 fiber providers report service in the county. The climate runs 900 cooling degree days a year with a mean temperature of 48°F. Land is valued around $9,830 an acre.
By site type
Top datacenter sites in Palo Alto County
| Site | Type | Voltage | Capacity | Queue wait | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNKNOWN130503 | Substation-Adjacent | 161 kV | 100 MW | 4.3 yrs | 59.8 |
| Sidles Warehouse | Industrial | — | — | 4.3 yrs | 53.1 |
| Wards' Building | Industrial | — | — | 4.3 yrs | 53.1 |
| Mine Site | Former Mine | — | — | 4.3 yrs | 53.1 |
| Phelps Dental Office | Industrial | — | — | 4.3 yrs | 53.1 |
| Sassman/Vanderhoff Building | Industrial | — | — | 4.3 yrs | 52.3 |
| Flying Pig Brownfields Site | Industrial | — | — | 4.3 yrs | 50.5 |
Every scored site in Palo Alto County
All 7 sites, best first.
- Substation-Adjacent site · 5a387c52 · 59.8
- Sidles Warehouse · 53.1
- Wards' Building · 53.1
- Mine Site · 8fbc8815 · 53.1
- Phelps Dental Office · 53.1
- Sassman/Vanderhoff Building · 52.3
- Flying Pig Brownfields Site · 50.5
Palo Alto County datacenter FAQ
How many datacenter sites are in Palo Alto County?
7 scored datacenter candidate sites, averaging 53.6/100 DC Readiness. That is the 69th-most of 85 Iowa counties with five or more sites.
What is the highest-scoring datacenter site in Palo Alto County?
Substation-Adjacent site · 5a387c52 scores 59.8/100 DC Readiness, the highest of the 7 scored sites in Palo Alto County (a substation-adjacent site).
Does Palo Alto County offer datacenter tax incentives?
Sales tax exemption on DC equipment for $1M+ investments; property tax phase-in for new construction.
What is the natural-hazard risk in Palo Alto County?
FEMA's National Risk Index rates Palo Alto County as "Relatively Moderate" (score 30).
What are industrial electricity rates in Palo Alto County?
Average industrial electricity is 7.36¢/kWh and commercial is 11.35¢/kWh in Palo Alto County.
More in Iowa
- All datacenter sites in Iowa· 2,572 sites
- Operating datacenters in Iowa
- Electric substations in Iowa
- Black Hawk County· 126 sites · avg 58.4
- Pottawattamie County· 123 sites · avg 57.0
- Clinton County· 118 sites · avg 54.2
- Johnson County· 112 sites · avg 57.9
- Linn County· 105 sites · avg 58.3
- Dubuque County· 101 sites · avg 55.8
- Industrial sites in Iowa
- Substation-Adjacent sites in Iowa
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 Palo Alto County, Iowa”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/iowa/palo-alto-county (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 Palo Alto County, 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.