Data Centers in Columbus

Columbus – Midwest Hub for Resilient Colocation

Executive Summary

Columbus is a premier North American data center market for enterprises that demand high uptime and low latency to the Midwest and East Coast. The region's exceptionally low natural disaster risk and competitive operating environment make it a strategic choice for mission-critical infrastructure, disaster recovery, and primary production workloads. This combination directly supports business continuity and protects revenue-generating applications.

Columbus: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Columbus has a dense and mature connectivity ecosystem, making it a reliable hub for data distribution throughout the American Midwest.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality Over 19 carriers operate in the Columbus market as of September 2025. The region features numerous carrier-neutral data centers, providing extensive choice for network services, private peering, and resilient multi-carrier strategies.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps With 2 direct cloud on-ramps, Columbus enables low-latency connections to 3 major cloud availability regions as of September 2025. Direct access is available for AWS and Google Cloud (GCP), facilitating hybrid cloud and multi-cloud architectures.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) The Ohio IX provides a central peering point for networks in the region. This allows local traffic to be exchanged efficiently, reducing latency and improving performance for end-users throughout the state. Most large-scale peering is handled privately within colocation facilities.

Bare Metal Bare metal server capacity is readily available in Columbus. Providers like phoenixNAP and ColoCrossing offer dedicated server solutions for workloads requiring the performance and security of single-tenant hardware.

Power Analysis

Average Cost Of Power Industrial power costs in the Columbus area typically range from $0.07 to $0.09/kWh as of 2023. This competitive pricing helps control operational expenses for high-density deployments and large-scale infrastructure. The state's power mix is primarily composed of natural gas (59%), coal (19%), and nuclear (12%).

Power Grid Reliability The power grid serving the Columbus data center market is well-engineered and reliable. Key data center clusters are supported by redundant power feeds from multiple substations, ensuring high levels of uptime for critical facilities.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Proximity To Key Business Districts Data centers in Columbus are strategically located to serve Ohio's state government, major universities, and a high concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the finance, insurance, retail, and logistics sectors. This proximity enables low-latency performance for local business operations.

Regional Market Reach Positioned within a day's drive of over half the U.S. population, Columbus provides an ideal footprint for disaster recovery and content delivery. Its central location ensures excellent network reach to major markets like Chicago, New York, and Atlanta.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers Ohio offers significant, negotiated tax incentives for data center development. These programs can provide long-term exemptions on sales and use tax for equipment purchases, substantially lowering the total cost of ownership for large-scale deployments.

Natural Disaster Risk

Columbus has a very low natural disaster risk profile, with a FEMA National Risk Index score of 19.50 out of 100 as of September 2025. This makes the region an exceptionally safe and stable location for critical IT infrastructure.

The primary environmental risks are atmospheric and inland hazards. Main risks include tornadoes, riverine flooding, strong wind events, winter weather, and hail. The region has a minimal risk of earthquakes and is not exposed to coastal threats like hurricanes.