Contrary to the popular belief that data centers operate in remote rural areas, new research from NYU Tandon School of Engineering reveals that the digital economy is overwhelmingly urban. The study analyzed 4,283 data centers across the contiguous United States and revealed an unexpected reality: 97.5% of all facilities are located directly inside urban and metropolitan areas. Urban concentration Tech companies and local officials long promoted data centers as a vital economic engine for rural communities. Data centers require massive, uninterrupted electricity, but constructing new power infrastructure is slow and expensive. Cities with this “Energy Community” designation are twice as likely to host new data center developments.