Brightlio Blog

Beyond its famous skyline, sumptuous cuisine, and cultural heritage, Chicago has another emerging landmark – its data centers. With the surge in demand for data center services, Chicago colocation offers a great mix of central location, robust connectivity, and affordability. Dive in as we unpack the reasons behind Chicago’s ascendancy in the colocation sector. Let’s get started!

Chicago Has a Thriving Colocation Industry

Chicago has 136 data centers. That scale keeps it among the country’s largest colocation markets, and Cushman & Wakefield currently ranks Chicago No. 8 among the Americas’ established data center markets.

Demand also remains tight. CBRE reported an overall Chicago colocation vacancy rate of 1.9% in H2 2025, showing how little large-block supply is left in the market.

Many Chicago data centers remain concentrated in downtown interconnection hubs and in the western suburbs. Downtown facilities continue to serve financial firms, carriers, and network-heavy users that need dense connectivity and low-latency access.

At 350 East Cermak, Digital Realty says its facility is the most interconnected multi-tenant data center in the Midwest. CoreSite also says its downtown Chicago campus sits in the middle of the city’s digital ecosystem and provides access to 65+ networks.

The western suburbs continue to hold many large, purpose-built data centers, especially in places such as Elk Grove Village and Franklin Park. That suburban pull is still growing. CBRE says new development is moving outside the Chicago core and targeting power sites of 500 MW or more.

Digital Realty alone lists 9 data centers across its Chicago metro footprint, including major campuses in Elk Grove Village, while CyrusOne’s Aurora campus provides 450,000 sq. ft. of technical IT space and 109 MW of total IT capacity.

Chicago’s central location and dense network ecosystem continue to make it a prime location for businesses in need of scalable colocation space. The broader metro also includes active nearby nodes in Lombard, Mount Prospect, and Oak Brook. Aurora also remains a major Chicago-area cluster led by CyrusOne, whose campus supports financial services, enterprise, fintech, and cloud customers.

Chicago Enjoys a Strategic Location

Chicago’s central position within the Midwest United States places it within easy reach of many major markets. World Business Chicago describes the city as the nation’s transportation and logistics hub and says its central location serves as a crossroads for moving both freight and people.

NTT also notes that Chicago’s location supports low latency to both U.S. coasts. This positioning gives businesses a logistical advantage when serving nearby markets such as Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Detroit, and St. Louis, while helping reduce latency for performance-sensitive digital workloads.

Colocating in a Chicago data center can also deliver low-latency connectivity to Toronto, Canada’s largest financial centre. Zayo says it operates the lowest-latency terrestrial fiber from Chicago to Toronto and lists estimated round-trip latency as low as 9.18 ms between Toronto’s 151 Front and Chicago’s 350 E. Cermak.

This geographic proximity holds particular significance for industries where low latency is imperative, such as high-frequency trading, online gaming, video conferencing, and healthcare. Ultimately, Chicago data centers continue to serve as an important connection point between the United States and Canada.

Chicago Data Centers Provide Robust Fiber Connectivity

Chicago has dense network connectivity, with major downtown interconnection campuses giving colocation customers direct access to large carrier ecosystems. Digital Realty’s 350 East Cermak provides access to 70+ network providers, while CoreSite’s Chicago campus provides access to 65+ networks.

Fiber investment is still active as well. In October 2025, Crosstown Fiber started a 45-mile underground route between Aurora and Chicago, and in January 2026, CoreSite launched native AWS Direct Connect at 400G in Chicago.

The city has numerous network providers with infrastructure that can provide low-latency internet connection services. Chicago also continues to support low-latency links to other major colocation markets in the United States and Canada. Zayo says it operates the lowest-latency terrestrial fiber route from Chicago to Toronto. Three prominent interconnection facilities anchor the market:

• Digital Realty on 350 East Cermak Road in downtown Chicago.
• CoreSite on 427 South LaSalle Street in downtown Chicago.
• QTS Chicago 1 on a 30-acre campus near the downtown corridor at 2800 S. Ashland Avenue.

Chicago’s network infrastructure means colocation facilities can connect directly to their preferred providers. The city also has peering hubs and internet exchange points, which adds to its appeal for businesses seeking data center solutions. Some prominent active internet exchanges in Chicago include ChIX, DE-CIX Chicago, and Any2Chicago.

Major Cloud Providers Have Availability Zones in the Chicago

Chicago is home to numerous local and global cloud providers that support colocation facilities. Major providers with a Chicago cloud presence include Amazon Web Services through its Chicago Local Zone, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure through its US Midwest (Chicago) region with 3 availability domains, Microsoft Azure through Chicago ExpressRoute peering locations, and Google Cloud through Dedicated Interconnect availability at CoreSite CH1 and Equinix Chicago.

Popular data centers such as CoreSite and QTS provide cloud on-ramps to AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle Cloud. Chicago data centers also have access to a dense carrier ecosystem. CoreSite says its Chicago campus connects to 65+ networks, while Digital Realty’s 350 East Cermak provides access to 70+ network providers. This competitive market gives businesses a wide range of options for bandwidth, cloud interconnection, and network design that can match their requirements and budgets.

Chicago Enjoys Affordable and Reliable Power

The price of electricity significantly contributes to data center costs. Because Illinois has a competitive retail electricity market, businesses in ComEd territory can choose the supply portion of their electric service from either the utility or an Alternative Retail Electric Supplier. Power prices also remain competitive. In 2024, Illinois posted an average commercial electricity price of 11.81 cents per kWh, below the U.S. average of 12.75 cents per kWh. CBRE also reported that Chicago’s average asking rental rate jumped by 14.7% in Q1 2025, reflecting continued demand across the market.

Commonwealth Edison remains the primary electric delivery utility for Chicago and serves more than 4 million customers across northern Illinois. Reliability remains a major strength. ComEd’s 2024 annual reliability filing says the utility earned the 2024 ReliabilityOne® award for Outstanding Reliability, reinforcing the city’s reputation for dependable power service. This makes Chicago colocation services an appealing option for many businesses.

Illinois also has a Renewable Portfolio Standard that requires utilities to procure renewable energy credits at levels of at least 40% by the 2030 delivery year and 50% by 2040, while state policy calls for a transition to 100% clean energy by 2050. This framework gives Chicago colocation facilities a clearer path to meet sustainability goals and access more renewable energy over time.

Chicago Has a Low Risk of Natural Disasters

Compared to some tier-one data center markets, Chicago benefits from a lower-risk profile for several major natural hazards. In Cook County, the earthquake record is limited to 6 felt or potentially damaging events from 1795 to 2022, with an average of 0.026 events per year, and Cook County’s hazard planning documents state that no fault zones are in Cook County. Wildfire exposure is also minimal, with FEMA-based county analysis showing only a 0.010% annualized frequency for wildfire in Cook County.

Although the Chicago colocation market avoids many of the risks that affect coastal or higher-wildfire regions, tornado exposure remains significant. Illinois ranks fifth in the nation for tornadoes per 10,000 square miles, and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency notes that the greatest frequency of tornadoes in Illinois extends northeastward to Lake and Cook counties.

State and local agencies continue to maintain mitigation planning and preparedness resources, including the 2024 Cook County Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan and public tornado preparedness guidance.

Average annual temperatures are also relatively moderate. NOAA’s 1991–2020 climate normals for Chicago show an annual average temperature of 51.2°F and 1,003 cooling degree days. That is well below the 2,825 cooling degree days recorded for Dallas-Fort Worth under the same normals period, which helps reduce cooling demand and can support more affordable colocation operations.

Chicago's Business Environment Fosters Data Centers

Chicago's central positioning makes it an excellent spot for businesses needing colocation support. Because it has a large and diverse economy, the city's colocation market serves customers well beyond North America. World Business Chicago describes Chicagoland as the nation's centerpoint and one of the most globally connected cities.

With a population of over 2.72 million, Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States. It occupies a central geographic position, making it a prime location for businesses from the East and West coasts. In the Midwest, the city remains a major center for sectors such as finance and insurance, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, and food and agriculture. The state government also offers meaningful tax breaks to data centers.

In 2019, Illinois launched the Data Centers Investment Program, which offers tax breaks to support data center construction and expansion. The program exempts qualifying data centers and their tenants from a range of state and local sales and use taxes on qualifying equipment, electrical and climate-control systems, telecommunications infrastructure, and building materials.

To qualify for exemptions that can last up to 20 years, these centers must make a total capital investment of at least $250 million over 60 months and create at least 20 full-time or full-time-equivalent jobs. All in all, Chicago's tax breaks can help hyperscalers, cloud providers, and customers cut data center costs.

Leading Chicago Colocation Providers

If you are exploring Chicago data center facilities, below are a few of our trusted partners. Contact Brightlio, and we can get you the best pricing on these and other Illinois colocation providers.

Limestone Networks

Limestone Networks' Chicago data center, ORD1, is located in downtown Chicago at 427 S La Salle St, right next door to the Cboe Futures Exchange. The facility features N+1 power redundancy, N+1 cooling redundancy, and 24/7 on-premise security.

Why we like Limestone's ORD1:

• Flexible space and power options, including per-slot, 1/2 rack, and full rack configurations, with standard power allocations of 2KW for half racks and 4KW for full racks
• The facility meets multiple compliance frameworks, including PCI-DSS, SSAE, SOC 1 Type II, and SOC 2 Type II
• Limestone offers Bare Metal Cloud services with dedicated bare metal resources for clients in need of dedicated infrastructure
• With active locations in Chicago, Dallas, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Paris, Portland, Salt Lake City, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, DC, Limestone is a strong option for a national or international colocation or bare metal strategy

Centersquare

Centersquare's Chicago-area ORD4 data center is located in the Illinois Technology and Research Corridor. The facility offers 66,875 square feet of space and 88.9 megawatts of utility power. Centersquare was called Evoque until a company rebranding in April 2024.

Reasons we like Centersquare's ORD4:

• Superior connectivity options with 11 service providers and cloud and point-to-point connectivity
• Highly secure facility with six layers of security, including mantrap access control
• Flexible service options with planning assistance for layouts, rack elevations, power, and network, plus structured cabling and Remote Hands support available 24/7
• Multiple compliance certifications, including SOC 1 Type II, SOC 2 Type II, ISAE 3402, and PCI-DSS

Hivelocity

Hivelocity is a provider of colocation, dedicated servers, and enterprise cloud. Their ORD4 facility is conveniently located at 725 South Wells Street in Chicago. This facility offers strong connectivity with around a dozen networks present on-site and access to 100+ networks via cross-connects.

Why we like Hivelocity's ORD4:

• Tier II design with N+1 redundant power and environmental systems
• Strategically located in a well-connected Chicago facility with two fiber vaults, around a dozen networks on-site, and access to 100+ networks via cross-connects
• Hivelocity offers flexible colocation options ranging from 1/4 racks to full racks and cages
• They offer other value-added services including DDoS Protection, dedicated servers, and enterprise cloud

Psychz Networks

Psychz Networks' Chicago data center is located in the Digital Realty building at 600 S Federal Street. The facility offers 142,000 square feet of space and 10,000 kW of power capacity.

Why we like Psychz's Chicago location:

• Carrier-neutral connectivity with access to 1,000 major internet hubs and diverse cable routes and pathways
• Flexible service options including half-cabinet / 20U and full-cabinet / 42U configurations, with standard power allocations ranging from 1.92 kW to 4.99 kW
• 24/7 on-site support staff, along with 24x7 onsite security personnel
• Other colocation locations in Los Angeles, Atlanta, Ashburn, Dallas, Houston, New York, Barcelona, Sydney, and more make Psychz a good fit for a national or international colocation strategy

How Can Brightlio Help With Your Colocation Needs?

Brightlio remains committed to helping you select the right colocation partner for your business. Our team is always available to provide competitive Chicago colocation pricing and estimates, all at no additional cost to you. 

Our reliable Chicago data centers will keep your company's data safe and meet your needs and budget. We also offer technology solutions, including network connectivity, SD-WAN, unified communications, public cloud, and advisory services. We can offer a complete technology solution for your organization.

Contact the team today to get started! 

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