Colocation pricing
Colocation means you rent space, power, and cooling for your own servers in a data center run by another company. Answer three questions to see a monthly price range for your space, power, and city.
How much space do you need?
1 of 3
A rack is a tall metal cabinet with 42 slots. Each slot holds about one thin server. Rack sizes
How much power will your servers need?
2 of 3
Not sure how much power you need? The power per rack table shows how much power each line can supply.
Where do you need it?
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We list the cities where CBRE posts a price. For any other city, use the quote form to get real prices from providers.
The city list gives an estimate for a full rack and a private cage in each area.
Compare the estimate in every city we price
kW is how much electricity the servers use. A private cage is a locked, walled-off area for several racks.
| City or region | Full rack, 5 to 10 kW | Full rack, 10 to 20 kW | Private cage, 100 to 250 kW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Virginia | $1,420–$2,790 | $2,370–$5,140 | $19,000–$58,750 |
| Atlanta | $1,410–$2,520 | $2,340–$4,520 | $18,500–$50,000 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $1,350–$2,410 | $2,150–$4,260 | $16,000–$46,250 |
| Phoenix | $1,390–$2,630 | $2,260–$4,780 | $17,500–$53,750 |
| Chicago | $1,440–$2,710 | $2,410–$4,960 | $19,500–$56,250 |
| Silicon Valley | $1,450–$3,090 | $2,450–$5,840 | $20,000–$68,750 |
| Portland and Hillsboro | $1,410–$2,710 | $2,340–$4,960 | $18,500–$56,250 |
| New York Tri-State | $1,420–$2,790 | $2,370–$5,140 | $19,000–$58,750 |
| Central Washington | $1,330–$2,330 | $2,110–$4,080 | $15,500–$43,750 |
| Austin-San Antonio | $1,350–$2,410 | $2,150–$4,260 | $16,000–$46,250 |
| Houston | $1,360–$2,480 | $2,180–$4,430 | $16,500–$48,750 |
| Southern California | $1,390–$2,900 | $2,260–$5,400 | $17,500–$62,500 |
| Seattle | $1,330–$2,330 | $2,110–$4,080 | $15,500–$43,750 |
| Denver | $1,330–$2,330 | $2,110–$4,080 | $15,500–$43,750 |
| Minneapolis | $1,360–$2,330 | $2,180–$4,080 | $16,500–$43,750 |
| Charlotte-Raleigh | $1,420–$2,790 | $2,370–$5,140 | $19,000–$58,750 |
Cities with the same CBRE price show the same estimate. All estimates are in US dollars per month.
How this estimate is worked out
The rack price is the lowest and highest monthly price that Sectorlink and Colocation America advertise for each size. Each rack price already includes some power, like 2.4 kW with a full rack, so we never count that power twice.
Any power above that is priced using the monthly rent per kW that CBRE, a large commercial property firm, reported for each city in early 2026. CBRE's prices are for very large customers who rent 250 kW or more, so we use them only for the extra electricity, never to price a rack.
To check our numbers, Vendr, a site that tracks what companies pay their suppliers, says Equinix charges $150 to $300 a month for each kW above what a cabinet includes. The CBRE prices fall inside that range. We price a private cage as the power you plan to use times the same price per kW, because those prices already include the floor space.
The cross connect and remote hands prices come from ServerMania and Brightlio. A saved link to your estimate keeps showing these same prices until we update them (price set 2026h1-a).
Get quotes for your setup
Send the space, power and city once. Up to three providers or brokers reply with real prices for that building.
Colocation pricing begins around $69 a month for one small server and rises to $930 to $999 a month for an entire rack, before you add any extra power. Colocation is when you put your own servers in a data center run by someone else and pay for the space, power and network they need. Most of what you pay comes down to two things: how much room your equipment takes up and how much electricity it uses.
1U, 2U and 4U colocation for a few servers
Data centers measure room in units called U, and 1U is how tall one slim server is. A full rack has 42U. Sectorlink charges $69 a month for 1U, power and network included. Colocation America charges $199 a month for 4U, which is room for up to 4 slim servers.
Colocation cost per rack: quarter, half and full racks
Once you outgrow a few servers, you rent a slice of a rack or a whole one. Packages come in quarter, half and full rack sizes, and each one comes with a set amount of power. A kilowatt (kW) measures how much electricity your servers use. A full rack of servers typically draws 3 to 5 kW.
1U, 2U or 4U
$69 to $199 a month
Quarter rack, 10U
$330 to $399 a month
Half rack, 21U
$530 to $699 a month
Full rack, 42U
$930 to $999 a month
Cage
priced by power
Rack pricing with power included
The monthly rates below are the ones Sectorlink and Colocation America publish, in US dollars.
| Rack |  Sectorlink price |  Colocation America price |
|---|---|---|
| Quarter (10U) | $330, roughly 0.6 kW | $399, roughly 0.6 kW |
| Half (21U) | $530, roughly 1.2 kW | $699, roughly 2.4 kW |
| Full (42U) | $930, roughly 2.4 kW | $999, roughly 2.4 kW |
These figures come from Sectorlink and Colocation America.
A full rack package includes about 2.4 kW, but a full rack of servers often uses 3 to 5 kW, so many buyers pay extra for power.
Why do data center prices differ so much?
There are two ways to bill for power. Flat rate power means you pay for a set amount of power each month, and metered power means you pay only for what your servers use, like a home electric meter, as CoreSite explains.
Size matters as well. A small customer pays more for each kW than a large one, and the smallest rentals pay the most. Where the building sits matters too, since electricity costs far more in some regions than in others.
| Market | Price per kW of power, monthly | Space still free |
|---|---|---|
| Silicon Valley | $200 to $275 | 4.2% |
| Southern California | $175 to $250 | 12.6% |
| Charlotte-Raleigh | $190 to $235 | 13.4% |
| New York Tri-State | $190 to $235 | 7.2% |
| Northern Virginia | $190 to $235 | 0.2% |
| Chicago | $195 to $225 | 2.2% |
| Portland and Hillsboro | $185 to $225 | 0.2% |
| Phoenix | $175 to $215 | 1.1% |
| Atlanta | $185 to $200 | 1.6% |
| Houston | $165 to $195 | 5% |
| Austin-San Antonio | $160 to $185 | 1.4% |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $160 to $185 | 2.8% |
| Central Washington | $155 to $175 | 2.9% |
| Denver | $155 to $175 | 13.8% |
| Minneapolis | $165 to $175 | 16.8% |
| Seattle | $155 to $175 | 5.4% |
What larger customers (250 kW and up) are asked to pay for each kW of power a month, in US dollars, from CBRE, first half of 2026.
Other costs to think about
A cross connect is a cable that runs inside the building and connects your servers to another network. Each one costs $150 to $300 a month, so know how many you need before you sign anything.
You can also hire the building's own staff for hands-on work, like replacing a drive. That kind of help costs $100 to $200 for each hour of their time.
The colocation pricing calculator
The price tool at the top asks 3 questions: how much room you need, how much power your servers use, and which city you want. You get back one monthly range in US dollars. Each range starts from published rack prices and adds the local cost of any extra power, using figures from CBRE, a big commercial property firm that follows what data centers charge.
Using the colocation calculator for your city
It covers the 16 biggest data center cities in North America and gives a rough range everywhere else.
To see what a real building charges, send one quote request with your space, power, city, start date, and contract length. Up to 3 providers or brokers with room in that city then email you their prices, and asking is free.
Common questions
Why is colocation so costly right now?
Room is hard to find. In the biggest markets, just 1.4% of data center space was empty in the first half of 2026, a record low, and prices asked for mid-sized deals rose 4.3%, CBRE's report shows.
Will my price climb every year?
Most leases build in an annual rise of 2.5% to 5%. Check that number in any contract before you sign it.
How can I find colocation buildings near me?
The site covers 48 cities, 40 of them in the US, plus 8 more in Canada, with a page for each. Every page lists every colocation building in town from PeeringDB, a free public listing of data centers, along with who runs it, its networks, internet exchanges and location.