Best Data Centers in Phoenix Arizona (2026)

Phoenix has rapidly ascended to become one of the top data center markets in the United States. With abundant solar energy, competitive power pricing, available land, and strong connectivity to both the West Coast and central US, Phoenix is attracting billions in data center investment — including major AI infrastructure deployments. This guide covers everything you need to know about the Phoenix data center market.

Why Phoenix for Data Centers?

• Affordable power: Arizona utilities offer commercial rates of $0.06-0.09/kWh, among the lowest in the western US. For AI workloads, this is 30-40% cheaper than California.
• Solar energy abundance: Phoenix receives 299 sunny days per year, making it ideal for solar-powered data centers. Many facilities achieve 50-80% renewable energy.
• Low natural disaster risk: No hurricanes, minimal earthquake risk, and no flooding in most data center zones. The primary environmental factor is heat.
• West Coast proximity: ~6ms latency to Los Angeles with multiple fiber routes. Serves as a lower-cost alternative to Silicon Valley.
• Available land and power: Unlike constrained markets like Northern Virginia, Phoenix has abundant land and utility capacity for new builds.
• Business-friendly environment: Arizona offers data center tax incentives including reduced transaction privilege tax and equipment exemptions.

The Heat Question

The obvious concern with Phoenix is heat — summer temperatures regularly exceed 110°F. How does this affect data center operations?

The answer is: less than you'd think, but it matters for cooling design. Phoenix's dry climate is actually an advantage — low humidity enables highly efficient evaporative cooling, which many facilities use as their primary cooling method for 8-9 months of the year. During peak summer, facilities switch to or supplement with mechanical refrigeration.

For AI workloads with high heat density, the climate actually makes the case for liquid and immersion cooling even stronger. These technologies are less affected by ambient temperature and deliver consistent efficiency year-round.

Key Phoenix Submarkets

Chandler/Mesa

The traditional data center hub in the Phoenix metro, anchored by major facilities from CyrusOne, Digital Realty, and Aligned Data Centers. Excellent fiber connectivity and established utility infrastructure.

Goodyear/West Valley

A rapidly growing submarket with massive new campuses from Microsoft, Google, and Meta. Offers some of the largest available parcels in the metro area with expandable power infrastructure.

North Phoenix/Deer Valley

Emerging submarket with new builds targeting enterprises and cloud providers. Good connectivity to downtown Phoenix and Sky Harbor International Airport.

Top Data Center Facilities

AI and GPU Workloads in Phoenix

Phoenix is increasingly popular for AI infrastructure due to its cost advantages. Key factors for AI deployments:

• Power cost savings: At $0.07/kWh vs $0.12/kWh in Northern Virginia, a 1 MW AI deployment saves ~$438,000/year on power alone
• Liquid cooling availability: Several Phoenix facilities offer direct-to-chip and immersion cooling for GPU racks
• Latency considerations: Phoenix is ~30ms from the East Coast, which may matter for latency-sensitive inference but is fine for training workloads
• Capacity availability: Unlike NoVA where power is constrained, Phoenix can accommodate multi-megawatt GPU deployments with shorter lead times

Pricing Overview

• Standard colocation: $100-180/kW/month
• High-density colocation: $150-280/kW/month
• GPU colocation: $200-380/kW/month with liquid cooling

For detailed pricing comparisons, see our GPU colocation pricing guide and general colocation pricing overview.

Connectivity

Phoenix's connectivity has improved dramatically over the past decade:

• Multiple dark fiber routes to Los Angeles (6ms latency)
• Direct paths to Dallas, Denver, and Seattle
• Cloud on-ramps for AWS, Azure, and GCP in-market
• Growing IX presence at major facilities

Compared to Other Markets

How does Phoenix stack up against other major AI data center markets?

• vs Northern Virginia: 30-40% cheaper power, more available capacity, but fewer carriers and longer latency to East Coast
• vs Texas: Similar pricing, more solar availability, but smaller ecosystem and fewer carrier options
• vs Chicago: Lower power costs, better climate for solar, but less central network positioning

Browse our complete Arizona data center directory for all facilities in the state.