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Methodology
Three rules run through everything here: a number needs a public source, an unknown stays unknown, and a parcel is never shown without its owner's consent.
1. Land-deal table
The table in How much do data centers pay for land lists 38 reported transactions (30 closed or recorded sales). It was compiled on 2026-10-17 and is extended when new deals are reported.
- Inclusion. A deal enters only if a public source reports both the land area and the price: county deed or assessor records, local government documents, company filings, or named reporting in news and trade press. Every row carries its date, and its source is listed with a link on the sources page.
- Price per acre. Where the source states a price per acre, we show it ("reported"). Otherwise we divide the reported price by the reported acreage and mark it "computed". Hectares are converted at 1 ha = 2.47105 acres.
- Currencies. Non-US prices are shown in the original currency; any US-dollar figure states the conversion basis given by the source or the rate used, and the date.
- Status. Closed or recorded sales are kept apart from approved-but-unclosed deals, options and asking prices. Ranges on the page are calculated from closed sales only, and the page states how many rows (n) each range is based on.
- What we do not do. We do not estimate missing prices, extrapolate from neighbouring parcels or publish "typical" ranges that cannot be traced to rows in the table.
2. Tax incentives
The incentives table on the site selection guide covers 47 programs (updated 2026-10-05). It comes from a database maintained by our publisher, The Dream View Co., Ltd., from statutes, state agency pages and tax press. Each program carries its qualifying thresholds (minimum investment, jobs), its status (active, suspended, repealed, proposed) and its sunset date where one exists. A blank threshold means the program does not set one or it is not published — never that we assume zero.
3. Moratoria and grid restrictions
The restrictions list covers 61 decisions by governments, regulators and grid operators that limit new data centers (updated 2026-10-05): moratoria, zoning changes, permit regimes, grid-connection limits and large-load tariffs. Each entry has a date, a status (in force, lifted, expired, proposed, rejected) and a primary source. Same publisher database as the incentives table.
4. Facts in the guides
Figures about interconnection queues, electricity demand, water and local opposition are quoted from the named report or filing, with the publication date. When two sources disagree we give both. When a source is a press summary of a paywalled report, we say so.
5. How we screen a parcel
When an owner sends land, we check public information only, and tell the owner what we found:
- Distance to substations and transmission lines and their voltage, from utility maps, ISO/RTO documents and public grid data.
- The serving utility or co-op, and whether it has published large-load tariffs or connection pauses.
- Local restrictions: moratoria, zoning rules and pending ordinances (our restrictions list plus county agendas).
- Flood zones (FEMA flood maps in the US), road access, water service and nearby fiber routes.
We do not request interconnection studies on an owner's behalf without a written mandate, and we never present a parcel to a developer before the owner agrees.
6. How we handle site requests
Developer briefs are compared against parcels owners have submitted. We share a brief with owners in anonymised form (load band, region, timing) unless the developer agrees otherwise.
7. Corrections
If a number is wrong or out of date, send the correction with a source through any form (put "correction" in the notes). We fix confirmed errors and keep the source list on /sources/ current.