You’ve probably heard the buzz about AI eating up electricity. What you might not have heard is that it’s quietly reshaping where homes get built and who’s buying them.

A new Realtor.com report just dropped some numbers that stopped me mid-scroll. Back in 2015, only 12 ZIP codes in the entire country had a large data center in them. By this June, that number hit 108. By the end of this year, it’ll be 125. These things are multiplying fast, and they’re not sticking to the same spots anymore.

Here’s the shift: data centers used to cluster near cities and in higher-income suburbs. Now they’re moving farther out, about 34 miles from a major city center for facilities in the 2027 pipeline, up from 27 miles just a year prior, and into areas with lower density and lower household incomes. Translation: the next wave is landing in more ordinary neighborhoods, including ones that never had an industrial building in sight.

So what does that mean for your home value? Here’s the reassuring part. Realtor.com studied 43 ZIP codes that got a large data center between 2019 and 2025, and home values in those areas moved right in line with similar neighborhoods that didn’t get one. No meaningful bump up, no meaningful drop. As Realtor.com’s chief economist Danielle Hale put it, “our analysis so far offers some reassurance.”

But she’s also honest that the facilities coming next are bigger and landing in communities with less experience managing an industrial neighbor, so that track record isn’t a guarantee going forward.

There’s an upside worth naming too: these projects bring real jobs. Direct operations roles, construction work, and support positions that often pay well into six figures, plus a wave of contractor work while a facility is being built. That’s new buying power showing up in communities that may not have seen this kind of investment before.

The bottom line if you’re buying or selling anywhere in our area: this is one more thing worth asking about when you’re evaluating a neighborhood, right alongside schools, taxes, and commute times. It’s not something to panic over. It’s something to be informed about, which is exactly what I’m here for.

Curious what’s happening in your specific town or ZIP code? That’s a conversation I love having. Head to danielleklinehomes.com or just search my name, Danielle Kline, on Google. I’m always happy to talk it through, no pressure, just real answers.

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https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/data-center-new-six-figure-jobs-housing/?cid=eml__1946:671fdfdc1a4446d4e6c1b034:rm202608151300_Marketing_Consumer_Weekly_EditorialNewsletter&deeplinkIdentityId=b9e1486b-a5a3-47e0-a82a-c4a776b94bbe