Dallas ranked as the No. 1 primary data center market in the world, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s 2026 Global Data Center Market Comparison report. Atlanta and eastern Virginia are two and three. Austin-San Antonio and West Texas led the secondary and tertiary market rankings.
Driven by accelerating AI adoption, cloud computing demand and digital infrastructure investment, global capacity under construction approached 31.7 gigawatts (GW) in 2025, more than doubling from 12.5GW reported in the prior edition of the report. At the same time, developers, occupiers and investors are facing intensifying constraints tied to power availability, land use, permitting timelines and growing regulatory scrutiny.
John McWilliams, Head of Data Center Insights at Cushman & Wakefield, added, “Demand fundamentals remain extraordinarily strong, but the industry is no longer operating in an environment of unconstrained expansion.”
The report analyzes 107 global markets across 24 variables tied to commercial real estate fundamentals, power infrastructure, development activity, regulation and operational risk.
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