Data Centers in South Carolina

South Carolina – Scalable Power and Resilient Connectivity

Strategic Growth Hub for Southeastern Enterprise

South Carolina offers a high-availability environment for businesses requiring consistent uptime and significant tax advantages. By combining affordable industrial power with a strategic geographic position, the state provides a secure foundation for regional digital transformation and revenue-critical data processing.

South Carolina: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality Carrier count: over 4 as of September 2025. While the state features several specialized providers like DartPoints and Lumen, the ecosystem focuses on high-quality transit via established regional fiber routes connecting to major East Coast interchanges.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps Over 0, enabling access to 0 cloud regions as of September 2025. There are currently no direct physical on-ramps within the state for major providers. Businesses typically reach AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud (GCP) through private transport or software-defined interconnects to Charlotte or Atlanta.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) Local peering is primarily handled through private interconnects or via regional hubs in neighboring states. Most high-volume traffic exchange occurs through major national peering points in Georgia and North Carolina to ensure optimal latency.

Bare Metal General availability is supported by regional and global providers. Organizations can leverage services from companies like Hivelocity or phoenixNAP to deploy dedicated hardware without the overhead of managing a physical facility.

Power Analysis

Average Cost Of Power Industrial electricity is approximately $0.07/kWh as of September 2025. This rate is backed by a diverse generation mix comprising approximately 55% nuclear and 24% natural gas. Lower energy costs directly improve margins for high-density colocation and high-performance computing workloads.

Power Grid Reliability The grid is well-engineered and benefits from a significant nuclear base-load, which provides exceptional stability. Most data center corridors feature multi-substation support and redundant paths to mitigate localized outages.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Proximity To Key Business Districts Data centers are strategically placed near economic engines like Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston. This placement supports the manufacturing, healthcare, and financial sectors that drive the state’s economy and require low-latency local processing.

Regional Market Reach South Carolina serves as a central point between the Mid-Atlantic and the deep South. Facilities here can effectively reach millions of users across the Carolinas and Georgia with minimal hop counts.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers The state provides a statutory data center tax exemption and sales tax incentives for infrastructure investments. These laws significantly lower capital requirements for organizations scaling their footprint in the region.

Natural Disaster Risk Assessment

The overall risk profile for South Carolina is High (88.8 percentile) as of September 2025. While facilities are built to survive local conditions, several natural factors require specific site mitigation strategies.

The primary natural hazards include:

• Hurricanes and Tropical Storms
• Riverine Flooding
• Tornadoes and Strong Winds
• Ice Storms
• Earthquakes