Data Centers in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania – Strategic East Coast Colocation

Pennsylvania offers a compelling alternative to more congested East Coast markets, providing robust network infrastructure and significant tax advantages for data center operators. This market is ideal for enterprises requiring low-latency connectivity to the major population centers of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic without the premium cost. The state's mature colocation ecosystem delivers the reliability and performance necessary to support critical applications and disaster recovery strategies.

Pennsylvania: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Pennsylvania’s network environment is dense and mature, particularly in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh metro areas. With 57 data centers and over 35 unique network providers operating in the state as of September 2025, the market provides extensive options for interconnection and carrier-neutral colocation.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality The state features a healthy mix of global and regional carriers, ensuring competitive pricing and redundant connectivity paths. Carrier-neutral facilities are common, allowing customers to interconnect with the providers that best suit their performance and cost requirements.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps With over 2 dedicated on-ramps providing access to 1 cloud region as of September 2025, Pennsylvania supports efficient hybrid cloud architectures. Direct connectivity is available to major platforms, including:

• AWS

For other cloud providers, connectivity is readily available via private network extensions and software-defined networking from the numerous carriers in the region.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) Major metropolitan areas like Philadelphia host carrier-neutral Internet Exchanges, such as PhillyIX. These IXPs facilitate low-latency, cost-effective traffic exchange between networks, improving performance for local and regional users.

Bare Metal Bare metal server capacity is available from multiple providers in Pennsylvania. Companies like Hivelocity and ColoCrossing offer dedicated server solutions for workloads demanding high performance and direct hardware access.

Power Analysis

Pennsylvania's power infrastructure is both reliable and cost-effective, supported by a diverse energy generation portfolio.

Average Cost Of Power Industrial electricity rates typically range from $0.07 to $0.09 per kWh, as of September 2025. This competitive pricing structure can significantly reduce the total cost of ownership for high-density deployments compared to neighboring primary markets. The state's power generation is dominated by natural gas (~55%) and nuclear (~30%), providing stable supply.

Power Grid Reliability The power grid serving the state's primary data center corridors is well-engineered and resilient. Major colocation facilities are often supported by redundant substations and diverse utility feeds, ensuring high levels of uptime for critical operations.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Pennsylvania presents a favorable business environment with direct access to major economic hubs and attractive tax policies for technology infrastructure.

Proximity To Key Business Districts Data centers are strategically located near Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, serving the region's large concentration of financial, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and technology industries. This proximity enables low-latency performance for local enterprise and research institution workloads.

Regional Market Reach From Pennsylvania, organizations can effectively serve the entire Mid-Atlantic and Northeast corridor. The state's central location provides low-latency network access to over 100 million people, reaching from New York City and Boston to the Washington D.C. metro area.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers Pennsylvania offers a sales and use tax exemption for computer data center equipment. This program eliminates the state's 6% sales tax on servers, networking gear, and other essential hardware purchased for use in a qualifying facility. This incentive directly reduces the capital expenditure required for new deployments and technology refreshes.

Natural Disaster Risk

Pennsylvania has a High natural disaster risk profile, with a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Risk Index score of 83.99 as of September 2025. The primary threats are atmospheric and weather-related rather than seismic.

While the overall risk score is high, it is driven by the frequency of specific, manageable events. Key risks for data center operators to consider include:

• Winter Weather & Ice Storms: Significant risk of disruption from heavy snow and ice.
• Riverine Flooding: A primary concern in low-lying areas near the state's major rivers.
• Hurricanes: Remnants of hurricanes can bring strong winds and widespread flooding.
• Tornadoes & Strong Winds: A moderate risk, particularly in the central and western parts of the state.
• Heat & Cold Waves: Can strain electrical grids and cooling systems.
• Landslides: A localized risk in areas with steep terrain.