Despite what everyone in the neighborhood says, building a giant data center nearby has zero impact on how much your house is worth.
SSRN · March 17, 2026 · 6314620
The Takeaway
Analyzing housing data in Virginia (the world's data center hub), researchers found that even facilities associated with loud, industrial AI workloads actually had a slightly positive effect on residential property values. This suggests the local economic benefits or tax base improvements outweigh the noise and aesthetic concerns cited by protesters.
From the abstract
Data centers have become a focal point of local opposition in the United States, with communities citing environmental, noise, and aesthetic concerns. Using a novel dataset of air permit issuances in Virginia matched to ZIP code-level home price indices, this paper estimates the causal effect of data center permitting on nearby residential property values in a difference-indifferences framework. Across multiple specifications and event-study designs, the estimated effects are economically small