United States

Texas, Oregon, and Illinois lead the index. Each for a different reason. Texas wins on the supply side, with strong energy generation, deep interconnection queues, and a top-tier workforce. Oregon is the most balanced state in the country, leading on economic climate and clean across grid, water, and sentiment. Illinois posts the highest composite score in the country, strong on grid reliability, workforce depth, and permitting clarity. The top of this index is not a single archetype.

The gap between readiness and capital is visible at the top of the table. Texas ranks first, but is at the bottom of the index on water supply, a constraint it shares with Arizona. Virginia, the country's largest active data-center market, sits tenth and trails the field on grid reliability and energy supply. Georgia, fifth on the composite, is weak on grid and water. The states drawing the most construction capital are not, on the operating environment, the strongest places to host it.

Hawaii, Alaska, and South Carolina close the ranking. Hawaii and Alaska are constrained by isolated grids; Alaska posts the weakest energy and grid-reliability scores in the country. South Carolina sits at 48th despite often being grouped with other Sun Belt growth markets: its permitting environment is at the bottom of the index, tied with Kentucky. The index is not a forecast of where data centers will be built. It is a read of raw operating- environment quality, and the gap between the two is the story.