Data Centers in Houston

Houston – Energy Capital & Digital Gateway

Houston is a primary interconnection hub for the south-central United States, offering exceptional connectivity for energy, logistics, and healthcare industries. Its strategic location provides low-latency access to both U.S. and Latin American markets, making it a critical site for disaster recovery and edge computing deployments that drive revenue and ensure uptime.

Houston: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Houston’s network ecosystem is dense and competitive, reflecting its status as a major economic center. The market provides a reliable foundation for high-performance applications and geographically redundant architectures.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: Houston has a strong carrier ecosystem with around 40 providers operating in the metro area as of September 2025. The market is dominated by carrier-neutral facilities, offering extensive choice for colocation and interconnection.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: The market features over 2 dedicated cloud on-ramps providing access to 2 cloud regions as of September 2025. Direct connections are available to AWS, enabling low-latency hybrid cloud solutions.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): The primary public peering point is the Netrality Houston IX, which facilitates efficient local traffic exchange and improves network performance. Most large-scale peering, however, occurs privately within the major interconnection facilities.

Bare Metal: Bare metal cloud solutions are readily available from multiple providers in Houston. Hivelocity and other providers offer dedicated servers for performance-intensive workloads.

Power Analysis

Houston benefits from its position within the Texas energy market, which is the largest in the nation. The deregulated market provides competitive pricing and a diverse generation mix.

Average Cost Of Power: Industrial power costs are competitive for a major U.S. market, estimated between $0.07 and $0.09 per kWh as of September 2025. This pricing helps manage the significant operational expense of high-density computing.

Power Grid Reliability: The power grid serving major data center zones is well-engineered, with infrastructure built to withstand regional weather events. Key facilities are supported by redundant substations to ensure high levels of uptime.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Houston's business environment is one of the most dynamic in the country, anchored by the energy sector but with strong growth in technology, manufacturing, and international trade.

Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers are strategically located to serve the central business district, the Texas Medical Center, and the Energy Corridor. This proximity enables low-latency performance for critical research, finance, and industrial control systems.

Regional Market Reach: From Houston, organizations can effectively serve a large population across Texas, the Gulf Coast, and into Mexico and Latin America. Its location is ideal for edge deployments and as a disaster recovery site for companies in Dallas or on the East Coast.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: Texas offers a significant state sales and use tax exemption on equipment purchased for qualifying data centers. This incentive directly lowers the capital expenditure required to build or expand a large-scale computing environment.

Natural Disaster Risk

Houston has a Moderate natural disaster risk profile, with a FEMA National Risk Index score of 43.46 as of September 2025. The primary risks are tied to its Gulf Coast location, but modern data centers are engineered to mitigate these threats.

Key environmental risks include hurricanes, severe storms (hail, lightning, strong winds), and riverine flooding. The area also faces risks from drought and heat waves, which can impact power grid stability, though this is a statewide concern.