Data Centers in Massachusetts

Massachusetts – Northeast Nexus for Connectivity & Research

Massachusetts is a primary digital hub for New England, serving enterprises in education, finance, and biotechnology that require low-latency connectivity and access to a dense carrier ecosystem. Its strategic location offers reliable infrastructure for businesses connecting to both North American and transatlantic markets, making it a critical interchange for data-intensive operations.

Massachusetts: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: With over 44 network providers present as of October 2025, Massachusetts offers a competitive and resilient connectivity market. The state's 47 data centers provide extensive options for carrier-neutral colocation, ensuring diverse and redundant network architectures.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: The market provides direct, low-latency access to major cloud providers. As of October 2025, dedicated on-ramps are available for AWS and Google Cloud (GCP), serving the region's four major cloud availability zones.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): The primary public peering point is the Boston Internet Exchange (BOSIX), which facilitates efficient local traffic exchange and reduces latency between networks. Most large-scale peering occurs privately within major colocation facilities.

Bare Metal: Bare metal server options are readily available from providers in the Boston metro area. Hivelocity is one of the providers offering dedicated server solutions in this market.

Power Analysis

Average Cost Of Power: Industrial electricity rates in Massachusetts range from 9.89–10.25 ¢/kWh as of October 2025. These costs are competitive for the Northeast region and are influenced by the state's reliance on natural gas for power generation.

Power Grid Reliability: The power grid supporting the Boston area and its data center corridors is well-engineered with significant redundancy. The energy mix is dominated by natural gas (~70%), with a growing renewable component, primarily solar (~24%), as of October 2025.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers in Massachusetts are strategically located to serve Boston's Financial District, the Cambridge life sciences and technology hub (Kendall Square), and the Route 128 tech corridor. This proximity provides low-latency connections essential for research, finance, and healthcare applications.

Regional Market Reach: From its central position in New England, Massachusetts serves as a digital gateway for the entire six-state region, encompassing nearly 15 million people. It is also a key landing point for subsea cables connecting North America to Europe.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: Massachusetts provides a significant sales and use tax exemption on the purchase of qualified data center equipment for eligible operators. This incentive directly reduces the capital expenditure required to build or expand data center infrastructure, lowering the total cost of ownership.

Natural Disaster Risk

Massachusetts has a High natural disaster risk profile, with a FEMA National Risk Index score of 92.68 as of October 2025. The risk level is driven by frequent and sometimes severe weather events rather than a single catastrophic threat.

Key risks include winter storms (ice storms, heavy snow), hurricanes, and severe winds. Other notable risks for the region are riverine flooding, coastal waves, and lightning. While earthquake risk exists, it is substantially lower than that of severe weather events.