It’s a digital gold rush as data center development sweeps through small towns across America.
As demand for artificial intelligence, cloud computing and digital storage rises, developers are rushing to secure land, power and water.
That growth is becoming increasingly concentrated. Nearly 1% of U.S. counties, roughly 33, will account for 72% of all data center activity in July 2025, according to a recent analysis by Goldman Sachs. But the menu changes almost daily.
One community in Georgia is experiencing this shift in real time.
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Newton County, about an hour east of Atlanta, is one of four counties where Meta’s Stanton Springs campus is located.
The cable network is long enough to reach the moon and back. And it’s where data for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Meta’s other platforms is processed and pushed at record speeds.
It is just one of 26 data centers currently under construction or already in production in the US, with more growth to come.
Meta’s arrival has been largely welcomed and the investments have become an important economic anchor for the region, creating hundreds of jobs, supporting local contractors and generating long-term tax revenue for schools and public services. The company now employs approximately 400 people in HVAC, electrical, operations and engineering roles, most of whom are hired from the surrounding community.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| META | META PLATFORMS INC. | 673.42 | +11.89 |
+1.80% |
But Meta’s presence now coincides with the explosive growth the province has experienced this year. And not everyone is enthusiastic about it.
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Long, who is also a real estate agent in the region, wonders what will happen years from now when the industry footprint changes and the massive buildings are no longer needed.
“What happens to the communities we lost?” Long asked.
Newton County has become one of the most aggressive data center expansion zones in Georgia. Since January alone, local officials say, 11 additional data centers are in various stages of planning or construction.
Amazon has already started building $25 million in acreage — about $50,000 per acre — powered by Georgia Power. And in nearby Social Circle, where Meta is located and covers both Newton and Walton counties, officials have zoned another seven data center projects without a long-term land use plan in place.
Hall said Meta’s success has attracted a wave of new interest to the region, making strategy and coordination more important than ever. Since the beginning of the year, she says, her phone has been ringing off the hook with questions from companies wanting to build in the area.
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Part of the reason growth is accelerating so quickly is the county’s access to power, proximity to I-20 and the extensive fiber optic infrastructure built by Meta. Through the Open Compute Project that Meta co-founded, the initiative to create open-source hardware for scalable and efficient data centers has helped drive down costs. The OCP initiative actively encourages and facilitates more companies to build and deploy highly efficient data center infrastructure.
“We’re trying to get everyone to the table and slow things down,” Hall said. “It’s about working on the path together. It takes good planning.”
The influx of data centers brings benefits that go beyond jobs. Since 2022, when Meta’s first taxable buildings came online, the company has contributed $12 million in cumulative tax revenue, a number that is expected to increase as construction continues. Before Meta arrived, the same land had been out of tax and government property for almost twenty years.
Meta has also launched initiatives to support small businesses, such as workshops teaching local owners how to grow through Instagram Reels. Amazon, meanwhile, is teaming up with Newton County Schools and Goodr to open a free grocery store that will provide students with fresh produce and shelf-stable food.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 229.53 | +0.42 |
+0.18% |
Still, residents say the promises don’t always match their lived experience. Several major manufacturers, including Meta, Rivian and Takeda, are working together to recycle water back into the community, but concerns remain as the development footprint grows.
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“This has all become so popular since Jan. 1,” Long said. “A year and a half ago, I didn’t even know what a data center was. We just got bombed.”
Lang emphasizes that Meta herself is not the problem. The campus is located in a designated business zone and has not disrupted residential life. Her concerns are the wave of newcomers, the risk of future vacant megastructures and the effect speculative development could have on home values.
For long-time residents, the pace of construction is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Lisa Miller, 64, lives near land that once housed a sawmill and is now Amazon’s active construction site.
Beams and heavy structures have also raised safety concerns. Miller described a neighbor’s experience.
“She heard the explosion — and then the entire ceiling of her living room collapsed,” Miller said.
“As we build these facilities over the coming years, we remain committed to being good neighbors,” a spokesperson said.
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Energy demand is another growing problem. Data centers will consume roughly 8% of all U.S. energy by 2030, and U.S. utilities will need to invest approximately $50 billion in new generation capacity to support the facilities. according to Goldman Sachs.
Despite the concerns, local leaders and residents agree that the solution is not to reject the industry. It’s about slowing down, coordinating, and planning for long-term consequences.
Meta, as the region’s first anchor, has committed to supplying more renewable energy than it consumes and becoming water positive by 2030, with the aim of modeling responsible development.
“If I could say anything to the entire nation, it would be: think about it,” Miller said. ‘Plan it. Don’t just stick them in every cow pasture that is offered for sale.’
