Data Centers in Cleveland

Cleveland – A Midwest Hub for Resilient Infrastructure

Executive Summary

Cleveland is a prime market for companies seeking a cost-effective and low-risk North American footprint. Its strategic Midwest location offers reliable, low-latency connectivity to major population centers while avoiding the higher costs and environmental risks of coastal hubs. This makes Cleveland a strong choice for disaster recovery sites and primary infrastructure that demands high uptime.

Cleveland: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: Cleveland supports a healthy, carrier-neutral ecosystem. Its 18 colocation facilities provide access to over 15 regional and national carriers, ensuring competitive pricing and redundant connectivity options, as of September 2025.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: Cleveland does not have direct public cloud on-ramps within the metro area, as of September 2025. The primary access point for dedicated cloud interconnection is Chicago, which is reachable via low-latency private network extensions, PNI, or wavelength services.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): Public peering is limited within Cleveland itself. Most network interconnection occurs through private peering inside carrier-neutral data centers or via the major exchange points in Chicago.

Bare Metal: Bare metal server options are available from multiple providers in the Cleveland market, offering dedicated compute resources for performance-sensitive workloads. Service providers like Hivelocity and ColoCrossing can serve the region.

Power Analysis

Average Cost Of Power: Industrial power costs in Cleveland are competitive, estimated between $0.07 – $0.09/kWh, as of early 2024. These favorable rates can significantly reduce the total cost of ownership for dense compute deployments compared to more expensive coastal markets.

Power Grid Reliability: The power grid serving Cleveland's data center corridors is well-engineered and reliable. Facilities typically have access to redundant power feeds from separate substations, ensuring high levels of uptime. The state's power mix is dominated by natural gas (59%) and includes significant contributions from nuclear (12%) and coal (19%), as of 2023.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers in Cleveland provide low-latency connectivity to the city's central business district and key industry clusters, including healthcare, finance, and advanced manufacturing.

Regional Market Reach: Strategically located on the southern shore of Lake Erie, Cleveland serves as an ideal hub for reaching consumer and business markets throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and southern Canada.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: Ohio provides tax incentives for significant data center projects, which can include abatements on sales and use tax for equipment. These programs make large-scale deployments more financially attractive.

Natural Disaster Risk

Cleveland has a very low natural disaster risk profile, with a FEMA National Risk Index score of 19.50, as of September 2025. The primary environmental threats are related to severe weather events. Key risks for the region include tornadoes, strong winds, winter weather including ice storms, and riverine flooding. The area has minimal exposure to catastrophic events like earthquakes or hurricanes that affect other major US data center markets.