Data Centers in Wisconsin

Wisconsin, USA – Central Hub for Midwest Digital Infrastructure

Wisconsin offers a compelling colocation market for businesses requiring a stable, cost-effective base to serve the Upper Midwest. Its strategic location provides low-latency access to major hubs like Chicago without the associated high operating costs. This balance makes it an excellent choice for disaster recovery, secondary compute sites, and latency-sensitive applications targeting regional end-users.

Wisconsin, USA: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Wisconsin’s connectivity ecosystem is robust for its size, anchored by proximity to the primary North American hub of Chicago. The state supports a healthy mix of regional and national providers.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: With over 12 network providers operating in the state as of September 2025, customers have sufficient choice for creating redundant network architectures. Most of the 18 colocation facilities offer carrier-neutral interconnection.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: There are no public cloud on-ramps located directly within Wisconsin as of September 2025. Businesses connect to all major cloud providers, including AWS, Google Cloud (GCP), and Microsoft Azure, via private network extensions (PNI/wave) to data centers in Chicago.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): Public peering is limited within the state. Most high-volume traffic exchange and peering is conducted privately or through major IXPs located in nearby Chicago and Minneapolis.

Bare Metal: Bare metal server options are available in Wisconsin, providing dedicated compute for performance-intensive workloads. Providers like ColoCrossing offer solutions in this market.

Power Analysis

Average Cost Of Power: Industrial power costs in Wisconsin typically range from $0.08 to $0.10 per kWh, as of September 2025. These competitive rates can significantly reduce operational expenditures for high-density deployments compared to more expensive primary markets.

Power Grid Reliability: The state's power grid is well-engineered and reliable, particularly in the primary data center markets of Milwaukee and Madison. Facilities are typically supported by redundant feeds from multiple substations to ensure high levels of uptime.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers in Wisconsin are strategically located to serve the commercial hubs of Milwaukee, Madison, and the Fox Valley. This proximity provides low-latency connectivity for regional finance, manufacturing, healthcare, and technology sectors.

Regional Market Reach: From Wisconsin, organizations can effectively serve a large portion of the Upper Midwest, including Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. The state is an ideal location for disaster recovery sites for businesses with a primary presence in Chicago.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: Wisconsin provides a significant sales and use tax exemption on computer and server equipment for qualifying data centers. This incentive directly lowers the capital expense required to build out or refresh critical IT infrastructure.

Natural Disaster Risk

Wisconsin has a Moderate natural disaster risk profile, with a FEMA National Risk Index score of 60.48 as of September 2025. The risk landscape is primarily defined by seasonal weather events rather than catastrophic threats like earthquakes or hurricanes.

Key risks for the state include:

• Severe Thunderstorms (Lightning, Hail, Strong Wind)
• Winter Weather (Ice Storms, Winter Storms)
• Tornadoes
• Riverine Flooding