Data Centers in Milwaukee

Milwaukee – Resilient Infrastructure for Great Lakes Enterprise

Milwaukee is a strategic choice for enterprises requiring high-speed access to Great Lakes manufacturing and financial services. The market offers a stable, cost-effective alternative to larger regional hubs while maintaining resilient connectivity to national fiber backbones. This location provides the uptime and security needed for high-stakes Midwest operations without the premium price tag of Tier 1 cities.

Milwaukee: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Milwaukee serves as a critical interconnection point between Chicago and Minneapolis, offering low-latency paths across the Midwest.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: There are over 9 active providers in the market as of December 2025. Approximately 10–15 carriers maintain a presence in the metro area, ensuring competitive pricing for dark fiber and IP transit.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: There are 0 direct cloud on-ramps as of December 2025. Local enterprises typically access AWS, Google Cloud (GCP), and Microsoft Azure via private transport or software-defined networking to Chicago hubs.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): The Milwaukee IX (MKE-IX) facilitates local peering, allowing participants to reduce latency and transit costs by exchanging traffic within the city limits.

Bare Metal: High-performance hardware is available through providers such as Hivelocity and phoenixNAP for organizations requiring dedicated compute without the overhead of physical management.

Power Analysis

Energy infrastructure in the region is characterized by stability and scalability, supporting dense colocation environments.

Average Cost Of Power: Industrial electricity rates range from $0.08 to $0.12/kWh as of December 2025. These competitive Midwestern rates significantly reduce the total cost of ownership for high-density deployments compared to eastern markets.

Power Grid Reliability: The local grid is reliable and well-engineered, utilizing multi-substation support to ensure consistent delivery to major data center corridors.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Milwaukee offers a favorable environment for regional headquarters and disaster recovery sites.

Proximity To Key Business Districts: Facilities are centrally located near the downtown financial district and West Allis industrial corridor. This proximity supports low-latency requirements for the banking, insurance, and manufacturing sectors.

Regional Market Reach: A Milwaukee presence effectively serves the broader Wisconsin and Northern Illinois population, acting as a strategic edge location for the Western Great Lakes.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: Wisconsin provides a sales and use tax exemption for qualified data center equipment and software. This benefit lowers initial capital expenditure for customers scaling their infrastructure within the state.

Natural Disaster Risk

Milwaukee maintains a Moderate (60.48) risk profile according to assessment data as of December 2025. The region is inland and shielded from many extreme weather events that affect coastal or southern markets.

• Cold Waves & Winter Weather: Frequent winter storms and extreme cold require specific facility hardening and fuel storage strategies.
• Severe Thunderstorms: Hail and lightning are common seasonal risks that modern facilities manage through resilient roofing and surge protection.
• High Winds: Strong winds and occasional tornadoes occur in the region, though data centers are typically built to withstand high-velocity wind loads.
• River Flooding: Localized flooding risk exists near major waterways, but most critical infrastructure sits outside primary flood zones.