Data Centers in Madison

Madison – Resilient Infrastructure for Secure Midwestern Growth

Executive Summary

Madison serves as a critical secondary hub for enterprises requiring geographic redundancy and high uptime within the Great Lakes corridor. By providing a stable, lower-cost alternative to major Tier 1 metros, this market effectively supports high-stakes operations for healthcare, insurance, and research sectors.

Madison: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Madison functions as a dependable regional node, positioned strategically between major Midwestern interconnection points. The infrastructure is purpose-built to support the high-bandwidth requirements of the state government and academic research communities.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: Carrier count: over 5. Local facilities typically maintain a diverse mix of 5–10 carriers as of December 2025. This provides sufficient competition for enterprise and research needs without the congestion of larger markets.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: Over 0, enabling access to 0 cloud regions. As of December 2025, no direct public cloud on-ramps are located within the metro. Organizations typically utilize private transport or wavelength services to Chicago to access AWS, Google Cloud (GCP), or Microsoft Azure.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): Most traffic exchange occurs through private interconnects or by leveraging national hubs in Chicago. While local peering options exist, they remain secondary to the high-capacity routes leading to major regional exchanges.

Bare Metal: Services are readily available through regional providers and global players such as Hivelocity and phoenixNAP as of December 2025, allowing for rapid scaling of localized compute resources.

Power Analysis

The energy landscape in Madison is defined by price stability and a grid capable of supporting heavy laboratory and data-intensive loads.

Average Cost Of Power: $0.07–$0.09/kWh, as of December 2025. These rates provide a clear operational advantage for firms moving workloads out of high-cost coastal or primary markets.

Power Grid Reliability: The local grid features redundant configurations and multi-substation support. Reliability is high, maintained by utility providers experienced in the rigorous uptime requirements of the University of Wisconsin research corridor and state government operations.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Madison provides a specialized business environment anchored by a high concentration of technical talent and research-driven industries.

Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers are positioned near the state capitol and the University of Wisconsin–Madison research corridor. This proximity is vital for low-latency service delivery to the government, biotech, and financial services sectors.

Regional Market Reach: From its central Wisconsin location, Madison effectively serves populations across the upper Midwest, including northern Illinois and eastern Minnesota.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: Wisconsin provides a sales and use tax exemption for equipment and power used in qualified data centers. This incentive lowers the total cost of ownership for long-term infrastructure deployments and equipment refresh cycles.

Natural Disaster Risk

Madison carries a Moderate (60.48) risk profile as of December 2025. The region is generally stable, with most threats stemming from seasonal weather patterns rather than catastrophic seismic or coastal events.

Primary Hazards: River Flooding, Tornados, Winter Weather, Strong Wind, Heat Waves, and Lightning.

Other risks such as landslides or wildfires are considered minor for the area. Standard facility hardening and redundant utility feeds are generally sufficient to manage these environmental factors.