Data Centers in Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor – High-Security Infrastructure for Research and Tech

Ann Arbor Market Summary

Ann Arbor is a strategic hub for organizations requiring proximity to the Michigan research and technology corridor. This market serves healthcare, academic, and engineering firms that prioritize site resilience and low latency to protect high-value intellectual property.

Ann Arbor: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

As a specialized regional hub, Ann Arbor provides the necessary infrastructure for low-latency local processing and reliable backhaul to major national peering points. Every metric is current as of September 2025.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality The market features a growing ecosystem with over 5 carriers available across local facilities as of September 2025. Most sites operate with carrier-neutral policies, allowing for diverse fiber paths and redundant local loops to ensure high uptime for mission-critical applications.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps There are 0 direct cloud on-ramps within the immediate metro area as of September 2025. Enterprises typically access platforms such as AWS, Google Cloud (GCP), or Microsoft Azure via private transport or software-defined interconnects to Detroit or Chicago, which remain the primary regional cloud hubs.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) Local connectivity focuses on private peering and high-speed transit. Most traffic requiring public exchange is routed to the Detroit Internet Exchange (DET-IX), ensuring efficient regional data distribution without the overhead of long-haul transport as of September 2025.

Bare Metal Bare metal services are available for organizations requiring dedicated compute without the management overhead of owned hardware. High-performance options can be sourced through providers such as Hivelocity or ColoCrossing as of September 2025.

Power Analysis

Energy infrastructure in Ann Arbor is purpose-built to support the requirements of research-heavy workloads.

Average Cost Of Power Industrial electricity rates range between $0.09 and $0.12/kWh as of September 2025. These costs remain predictable, providing a stable financial foundation for long-term colocation planning compared to volatile coastal markets.

Power Grid Reliability The local grid is well-engineered with multi-substation support in key data center corridors. Redundant utility feeds and a diverse generation mix contribute to a sturdy environment for sensitive digital operations as of September 2025.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Ann Arbor is a strategic location for businesses that need to be close to innovation centers while avoiding the congestion of larger markets.

Proximity To Key Business Districts Data centers here are centrally located for the University of Michigan and the automotive technology belt. This proximity is vital for low-latency research applications and real-time data processing in the autonomous vehicle and healthcare sectors as of September 2025.

Regional Market Reach Facilities in this market effectively serve the entire Southeast Michigan population. They also function as a reliable disaster recovery destination for enterprises headquartered in Detroit or Toledo as of September 2025.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers Michigan provides a clear financial benefit through sales and use tax exemptions on qualified data center equipment. This incentive significantly reduces the initial capital expenditure and ongoing refresh costs for hardware-intensive deployments as of September 2025.

Natural Disaster Risk

Ann Arbor is characterized by a Low FEMA National Risk Index score of 9.3 as of September 2025. This makes it an exceptionally safe environment for primary or backup infrastructure.

The primary natural hazards include:

• Strong Wind
• Tornadoes
• Ice Storms
• Winter Weather
• Hail
• Heat Waves

Other risks such as wildfires or landslides are minor. Due to its inland position, there is no risk from coastal flooding or tsunamis, providing a secure sanctuary for critical data assets as of September 2025.