Skip to content
Gridcensus

Datacenter Sites in South Dakota

South Dakota has 1,151 scored datacenter candidate sites averaging 54.7/100 DC Readiness. Substation-Adjacent parcels lead the inventory (477 sites). Most sites interconnect through SPP. The state's candidate sites carry a catalogued aggregate of 48.0k MW and average a 4.3 yrs interconnection-queue wait.

At a glance

South Dakota has 1,151 scored datacenter candidate sites, the 40th-most of the 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico, averaging 54.7/100 DC Readiness against a national average of 53.0. Its average score ranks 19th among states. The state also has 6 operating datacenters and 7 internet exchange facilities on record.

1,151
Candidate sites
54.7/100
Avg DC Readiness
48.0k MW
Catalogued capacity
theoretical aggregate
4.3 yrs
Avg queue wait
◆ Loading map…
≥ 7560–7540–60≤ 40
Top 25 in South Dakota

How does South Dakota compare with other states for datacenter sites?

By number of scored candidate sites, South Dakota ranks 40th of the 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico (1,151 of 147,272 nationally, 0.8%). Its average DC Readiness of 54.7/100 ranks 19th 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, South Dakota is strongest relative to the nation on natural hazard (77.1 vs 66.8 nationally) and weakest on fiber (68.3 vs 69.1). Power and speed to power carry 20% of the score each, fiber 12%, water 7% and hazard 6%.

Which counties in South Dakota have the most datacenter sites?

Minnehaha County (95 sites, average 58.1), Day County (82 sites, average 51.9), and Pennington County (58 sites, average 59.7) hold the largest inventories. Together the top 3 account for 20% of the state's scored sites. Pennington County has the highest average score among counties with at least 10 sites (59.7/100). 52 counties have five or more scored sites and their own county page.

What kinds of sites and grid regions are in South Dakota?

Substation-Adjacent parcels are the largest category (477, 41%), followed by industrial (359) and greenfield (159). Sites span 2 grid regions; SPP covers 60% of them.

By site type

By grid region

Average sub-score profile

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

Power availability
39.1
Speed-to-power
52.3
Fiber
68.3
Water
76.0
Hazard resilience
77.1

Top 25 datacenter sites in South Dakota

Ranked by DC Readiness.

Top datacenter sites in South Dakota
SiteTypeCountyVoltageCapacityQueue waitScore
SPLIT ROCKSubstation-AdjacentMinnehaha County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs67.7
EC Coal Pennington CountyGreenfieldPennington County——4.3 yrs66.9
SOUTH RAPID CITYSubstation-AdjacentPennington County230 kV300 MW4.3 yrs66.8
SIOUX FALLSSubstation-AdjacentMinnehaha County230 kV300 MW4.3 yrs66.6
OZ YanktonGreenfieldYankton——4.3 yrs66.1
RAPID CITY DC TIESubstation-AdjacentPennington County230 kV300 MW4.3 yrs65.9
LANGESubstation-AdjacentPennington County230 kV300 MW4.3 yrs65.8
EC Near Ben FrenchGreenfieldPennington——4.3 yrs65.7
EC Near Ben FrenchGreenfieldPennington——4.3 yrs65.2
VIRGIL FODNESSSubstation-AdjacentLincoln County230 kV300 MW4.3 yrs65.2
UTICA JUNCTIONSubstation-AdjacentYankton County230 kV300 MW4.3 yrs65.0
GROTONSubstation-AdjacentBrown County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs64.8
EC Coal Pennington CountyGreenfieldPennington County——4.3 yrs64.6
EC Near Ben FrenchGreenfieldPennington——4.3 yrs64.4
EC Coal Pennington CountyGreenfieldPennington County——4.3 yrs64.4
EC Near Ben FrenchGreenfieldPennington——4.3 yrs64.3
BROOKINGS COUNTYSubstation-AdjacentLincoln County345 kV600 MW4.3 yrs64.2
UNKNOWN131330Substation-AdjacentUnion County230 kV300 MW4.3 yrs64.0
EC Near Ben FrenchGreenfieldPennington——4.3 yrs63.9
EC Near PathfinderGreenfieldMinnehaha——4.3 yrs63.7
OZ MinnehahaGreenfieldMinnehaha——4.3 yrs63.5
NEW UNDERWOODSubstation-AdjacentPennington County230 kV300 MW4.3 yrs63.5
VT HANLONSubstation-AdjacentMcCook County230 kV300 MW4.3 yrs63.4
UNKNOWN131108Substation-AdjacentMcPherson County230 kV300 MW4.3 yrs63.3
EC Coal Pennington CountyGreenfieldPennington County——4.3 yrs63.3

Counties in South Dakota

52 counties with five or more scored sites.

Minnehaha County95 · 58.1Day County82 · 51.9Pennington County58 · 59.7Beadle County51 · 55.1Charles Mix County40 · 53.4Brown County37 · 57.4Brookings County35 · 55.3Lawrence County35 · 54.1Spink34 · 56.4Todd County33 · 47.1Moody County32 · 52.3Yankton County30 · 57.9Lyman County27 · 51.6Lincoln County25 · 57.2Codington County23 · 52.1Roberts County23 · 52.7Clay County22 · 58.1Custer County22 · 54.7Dewey County22 · 48.2Hyde County22 · 57.3Lake County22 · 53.5Davison County21 · 54.2Grant County21 · 53.0Turner County21 · 55.7Union County20 · 56.4Kingsbury19 · 56.5Brule County17 · 54.9McCook County17 · 55.6Bon Homme County14 · 56.8Buffalo County14 · 52.4Meade County12 · 54.7Oglala Lakota County12 · 49.5Deuel County11 · 54.3Hughes County11 · 52.5Aurora County10 · 55.2Butte County9 · 53.1Clark County9 · 55.7Hanson County9 · 55.0Tripp County9 · 51.8Ziebach County9 · 49.4Corson County8 · 52.4Douglas County8 · 55.8Hand County8 · 55.8Miner County7 · 53.3Fall River County6 · 56.4Gregory County6 · 54.0Hamlin County6 · 54.4Hutchinson County6 · 54.2Marshall County6 · 53.2Stanley County6 · 55.1Faulk County5 · 54.1Potter County5 · 52.5

Sites in South Dakota counties with fewer than five sites

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

Operating datacenters in South Dakota

6 operating datacenter facilities in South Dakota are on record, the 43rd-most of any state. Sioux Falls has the largest cluster (3 facilities). The operators with the most facilities here are South Dakota Network dba SDN Communications (2), TierPoint, LLC (1), Midcontinent Communications (1). Footprints are recorded for 2 of them, totalling about 0.3 million square feet.

Sioux Falls (3)

Rapid City (1)

Yankton (1)

City not recorded (1)

Internet exchange and peering facilities in South Dakota

7 peering and colocation facilities in South Dakota are listed in PeeringDB. Sioux Falls has the most (5). The best-connected facility hosts 4 networks; the median facility in the state hosts 2 networks.

Rapid City (1)

Yankton (1)

South Dakota datacenter site selection FAQ

How many datacenter sites are in South Dakota?

GridCensus catalogs 1,151 scored datacenter candidate sites in South Dakota, with an average DC Readiness score of 54.7/100. That is the 40th-largest inventory of the 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico.

How many operating datacenters are in South Dakota?

6 operating datacenter facilities in South Dakota are on record, the 43rd-most of any state. Sioux Falls has the most (3). South Dakota Network dba SDN Communications operates the most facilities in the state (2).

What is the average interconnection-queue wait in South Dakota?

Candidate sites in South Dakota average a 4.3-year interconnection-queue wait, with an average queue depth of 9 projects. The national average across all scored sites is 4.2-year, and South Dakota has the 23rd-shortest average wait of the 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico.

Which county in South Dakota has the most datacenter sites?

Minnehaha County has the most scored candidate sites in South Dakota (95), followed by Day County (82) and Pennington County (58). Among counties with at least 10 sites, Pennington County has the highest average DC Readiness (59.7/100).

What kind of datacenter sites are most common in South Dakota?

Substation-Adjacent sites are the most common category in South Dakota (477 sites, 41% of the inventory), and most sites fall within the SPP grid region.

How many internet exchange facilities are in South Dakota?

7 peering and colocation facilities listed in PeeringDB are in South Dakota. Sioux Falls has the most (5). The best-connected one hosts 4 networks.

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

More South Dakota 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 South Dakota”, https://gridcensus.com/datacenter-sites/south-dakota (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 South Dakota 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.

See plansTalk to us