Data Centers in Minnesota

Minnesota – Low-Latency Reliability for the Upper Midwest

Executive Summary

Minnesota is the primary anchor for organizations requiring stable, high-density infrastructure outside coastal volatility. It offers a massive footprint of over 50 data centers, providing the perfect balance of regional reach and aggressive tax incentives. Deploying here secures mission-critical workloads while protecting the bottom line through competitive operational costs.

Minnesota: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: Carrier count: over 34 as of September 2025. The market features a blend of 30–40 unique providers, ensuring a competitive environment for blended IP and dark fiber requirements.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: Over 4, enabling access to 11 cloud regions as of September 2025. Localized on-ramps include AWS and Microsoft Azure, which significantly reduce latency for hybrid cloud architectures.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): The Midwest Internet Cooperative Exchange (MICE) serves as the primary peering point, facilitating low-latency interconnection for the entire region as of September 2025.

Bare Metal: High-performance bare metal services are readily available through established providers such as phoenixNAP and Hivelocity as of September 2025.

Power Analysis

Average Cost Of Power: $0.08/kWh, as of December 2021. These rates directly reduce long-term operational overhead, offering a clear financial advantage over higher-cost metros.

Power Grid Reliability: The regional grid is well-engineered with redundant transmission paths and multi-substation support in major data center corridors. Reliability is a hallmark of the Twin Cities metro, supporting 100% uptime targets.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers are concentrated near the Minneapolis-Saint Paul business districts, home to a high density of Fortune 500 companies in healthcare and finance. This proximity ensures minimal latency for corporate headquarters and regional operations.

Regional Market Reach: Minnesota serves as the primary data hub for the Upper Midwest, effectively reaching populations across the Dakotas, Iowa, and Western Wisconsin.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: The state provides a significant sales tax exemption on hardware and software for facilities that meet specific investment criteria as of September 2025. This policy drastically lowers the total cost of ownership for large-scale deployments.

Natural Disaster Risk

The Minnesota market carries a Low risk profile with a FEMA NRI score of 24.66 as of December 2025. The environment is geologically stable, making it a preferred site for secondary disaster recovery or primary production workloads.

Top Natural Hazards:

• Tornado
• Ice Storm
• Winter Weather
• Strong Wind
• Hail
• Heat Wave

These risks are typically managed through standard facility hardening and reinforced roofing systems common to the region. Other hazards such as landslides or wildfires are considered minor or regional in scope as of December 2025.