Explainer
How big are data centers?
Text updated Sep 23, 2026 · 8 cited sources, newest dated Jul 6, 2026 · Census figures as of Sep 23, 2026
Short answer
A single data center building is often hundreds of thousands of square feet: data center representatives cited by Virginia’s legislative auditors describe a typical data center as 250,000 square feet[1], about 4.3 NFL fields of 57,600 square feet each[2]. Campuses hold many such buildings and are measured in acres. Virginia, home of the world’s largest market[1], has over 63 million square feet of data center space on 7,200 acres[3], about 8.5 times the 843 acres of New York’s Central Park[4]. The largest campuses in the Census record cover thousands of acres each.
- a typical data center building, per data center representatives cited by JLARC[1]
- 250,000 sq ft
- NFL fields in that building, at 360 by 160 feet per field[2]
- 4.3
- land under Virginia’s 63 million square feet of data center space[3]
- 7,200 acres
How big is one data center building?
Data center representatives told Virginia’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) that a typical data center of 250,000 square feet may have about 50 full-time workers[1]. An NFL field is 360 feet long and 160 feet wide[2], or 57,600 square feet, so a 250,000-square-foot building covers about 4.3 of them.
Loudoun County, in the Northern Virginia market, counts approximately 233 data center buildings totaling approximately 56.5 million square feet, built or under construction[5]. That averages out to about 240,000 square feet a building.
The lower bound is much smaller. The Congressional Research Service cites industry analysts who say a hyperscale data center should contain at least 5,000 servers, occupy at least 10,000 square feet and have a power rating above 100 megawatts[6]. The largest data centers ranking lists tracked projects by power.
How much land does a data center campus take?
Campuses are measured in acres, and an acre is exactly 43,560 square feet[7], so an NFL field is about 1.3 acres.
Across Virginia, JLARC counted over 63 million square feet of data center space on 7,200 acres of land[3]. That is about 1,100 NFL fields of floor space on land about 8.5 times the size of Central Park, which covers 843 acres[4].
Single proposals can approach that scale. The Prince William Digital Gateway was proposed as a 23-million-square-foot complex on 2,100 acres near Manassas National Battlefield Park before it was stopped in court[8]: about 400 NFL fields of floor space on about 2.5 Central Parks of land.
Land, floor space and power are different measures
Three numbers describe a data center’s size, and they do not move together. Site size in acres is the land a developer controls. Floor space in square feet is the buildings. Capacity in megawatts is the electricity the campus is planned to draw, and it is how the Census ranks the largest projects. A site size can also include land for later phases, power plants or other uses, so the three rarely line up.
Project records in the Census keep each figure as its source states it, including notes where later reports gave a different number. The tables below use each project’s first published figure, the same rule as the largest data centers ranking.
Tracked campuses, drawn to scale
128 projects in the Census publish a site size. The median is 502 acres, and 29 sites cover 1,000 acres or more. Below, the 9 largest are drawn to the same scale as Central Park.
Central Park843 acres
Stratos Project40,000 acres · 47× Central Park · proposed · see note below
Fermi America Project Matador5,800 acres · 6.9× Central Park · under construction · see note below
Meta Hyperion3,650 acres · 4.3× Central Park · under construction · see note below
Homer City Energy Campus3,200 acres · 3.8× Central Park · under construction
Wilderness Crossing2,600 acres · 3.1× Central Park · approved · see note below
Monarch Compute Campus2,250 acres · 2.7× Central Park · under construction · see note below
Comanche Circle2,100 acres · 2.5× Central Park · approved
Prince William Digital Gateway2,100 acres · 2.5× Central Park · cancelled · see note below
Quantum Frederick2,100 acres · 2.5× Central Park · under construction
The biggest sites by land
| # | Project | Status | Acres | Central Parks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stratos Project UT Across three sites per May 2026 reporting; a June 17, 2026 report described approximately 20,000 acres after the developer announced reductions | Proposed | 40,000 | 47 |
| 2 | Fermi America Project Matador TX per ABC 7 Amarillo; Fermi's website says ~8,400 acres | Under construction | 5,800 | 6.9 |
| 3 | Meta Hyperion LA Original 2,250 acres plus 1,400 acres purchased at end of 2025 | Under construction | 3,650 | 4.3 |
| 4 | Homer City Energy Campus PA | Under construction | 3,200 | 3.8 |
| 5 | Wilderness Crossing VA total rezoning, mixed use | Approved | 2,600 | 3.1 |
| 6 | Monarch Compute Campus WV site of up to 2,250 acres | Under construction | 2,250 | 2.7 |
| 7 | Comanche Circle TX | Approved | 2,100 | 2.5 |
| 8 | Prince William Digital Gateway VA about 1,790 acres rezoned | Cancelled | 2,100 | 2.5 |
| 9 | Quantum Frederick MD | Under construction | 2,100 | 2.5 |
| 10 | White Oak Technology Park GA adjacent land proposed for rezoning in 2025 DRI filing | Approved | 1,900 | 2.3 |
| 11 | Project Delta NC about 998 acres developable; remainder floodplain (s1) | Approved | 1,845 | 2.2 |
| 12 | IREN Sweetwater data center campus TX 1,300 acres at Sweetwater 1 and 500 at Sweetwater 2, per IREN; DCD reported 1,700 acres for Sweetwater 1 | Under construction | 1,800 | 2.1 |
| 13 | Project Thunderbird OK approximately, across four campuses; other outlets report 1,735 acres | Proposed | 1,652 | 2 |
| 14 | QTS DeForest Data Center Campus WI | Cancelled | 1,600 | 1.9 |
| 15 | Meta Lebanon Data Center IN | Under construction | 1,500 | 1.8 |
Central Parks: acres ÷ 843. A site size is the land a source ties to the project, which can include land for later phases, power plants or other uses.
The biggest campuses by floor space
70 projects publish a floor area, with a median of 2,000,000 square feet, or about 35 NFL fields. Many are planned totals for a campus that is not yet built; the notes give each source’s wording.
| # | Project | Status | Square feet | NFL fields |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prince William Digital Gateway VA planned at full build-out | Cancelled | 23,000,000 | 399 |
| 2 | Quantum Frederick MD approximately, at full build-out | Under construction | 17,400,000 | 302 |
| 3 | Project Cardinal Data Center Campus IL over 17 million square feet | Approved | 17,000,000 | 295 |
| 4 | Sentinel Grove Technology Park FL up to 15 million square feet | Paused | 15,000,000 | 260 |
| 5 | T5 @ Chicago IV IL as much as | Approved | 10,100,000 | 175 |
| 6 | Microsoft Fairwater WI nearly 9 million sq ft planned for the 15 additional data centers approved Jan 2026, with 3 new substations | 9,000,000 | 156 | |
| 7 | White Oak Technology Park GA data center space in DRI filing (8.076M sq ft total campus) | Approved | 8,004,000 | 139 |
| 8 | Amazon Data Services King George campus (former Birchwood power plant site) VA | Paused | 7,000,000 | 122 |
| 9 | QTS Fayetteville data center campus GA up to about 7 million sq ft planned; DCD reports 6.6 million sq ft in 16 buildings | 7,000,000 | 122 | |
| 10 | Joliet Technology Center IL | Approved | 6,936,000 | 120 |
| 11 | Project Steel Data Center Campus IL about 6.8 million square feet | Approved | 6,800,000 | 118 |
| 12 | Stafford Technology Campus VA as approved in 2024 | Under construction | 5,500,000 | 95 |
NFL fields: square feet ÷ 57,600 (360 × 160 feet).
Common questions
How big is a data center?
Sizes vary widely. Data center representatives cited by Virginia’s JLARC describe a typical data center as 250,000 square feet, about 4.3 NFL fields. The Congressional Research Service cites industry analysts who set the hyperscale threshold at 10,000 square feet or more. Large campuses hold many buildings on hundreds or thousands of acres.
How many football fields is a data center?
A typical 250,000-square-foot data center, as described to Virginia’s JLARC, covers about 4.3 NFL fields of 57,600 square feet each (360 by 160 feet).
How many acres does a data center take?
It depends on how many buildings the campus holds. JLARC counted over 63 million square feet of data center space on 7,200 acres in Virginia, about 8.5 times the size of New York’s 843-acre Central Park. Single proposed campuses in the Census record cover thousands of acres.
How big is a hyperscale data center?
The Congressional Research Service cites industry analysts who say a hyperscale data center should contain at least 5,000 servers, occupy at least 10,000 square feet and have a power rating above 100 megawatts.
Sources
- Data Centers in Virginia (Report Summary)Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), Virginia General Assembly · 2024-12-09
2 source excerpts
“Data center jobs tend to be high paying. Several data center representatives indicated that a typical 250,000-square-foot data center may have approximately 50 full-time workers, about half of which are contract workers.”
“Northern Virginia is the largest data center market in the world, constituting 13 percent of all reported data center operational capacity globally and 25 percent of capacity in the Americas.”
- 2023 Official Playing Rules of the National Football League (Rule 1, Section 1)National Football League · 2023
Source excerpt
“The game shall be played upon a rectangular field, 360 feet in length and 160 feet in width.”
- Data Centers in Virginia (Report 598)Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), Virginia General Assembly · 2024-12
Source excerpt
“In total, Virginia has over 63 million square feet of data center space on 7,200 acres of land.”
- About the Central Park ConservancyCentral Park Conservancy
Source excerpt
“Keeping Central Park thriving takes four kinds of work at once—carried out every day, across all 843 acres, by the people of the Conservancy.”
- Data Centers: The Loudoun StoryLoudoun County, Virginia · 2026-03
Source excerpt
“There are approximately 233 existing data center buildings, representing approximately 56.5 million square feet, either built or under various stages of the construction process.”
- Data Centers and Their Energy Consumption: Frequently Asked Questions (CRS R48646)Congressional Research Service (text via EveryCRSReport.com) · 2026-05-12
Source excerpt
“To be considered a hyperscale data center, a facility should contain at least 5,000 computer servers and a large scale of network equipment and occupy at least 10,000 square feet of physical space, with an electric power rating, sometimes referred to as power draw, exceeding 100 megawatts (MW).”
- Handbook 44 (2026), Appendix C: General Tables of Units of MeasurementNational Institute of Standards and Technology · 2025-12
Source excerpt
“1 acre (ac) = 43 560 square feet (exactly)”
- Prince William Digital Gateway data center project officially diesVirginia Business · 2026-07-06
Source excerpt
“After a legal battle that lasted more than two years, the controversial Prince William Digital Gateway, a proposed 23 million-square-foot data center complex planned on 2,100 acres near Manassas National Battlefield Park, is officially dead.”
Each source was opened and checked against the excerpt shown. Company statements are identified as such. Figures are as published; where sources differ, each is shown.
Cite this page
Last updated Sep 23, 2026. Figures may change as records are updated — include the date you retrieved them.
| APA | Data Center Census. (2026). How big are data centers. Retrieved from https://datacentercensus.com/guides/how-big-are-data-centers |
|---|---|
| MLA | “How big are data centers.” Data Center Census, Sep 23, 2026, https://datacentercensus.com/guides/how-big-are-data-centers. |
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