How much does colocation cost in Minneapolis?
Recent quotes we received for Central Time Region / Midwest ran $245 to $295 per kW per month for up to 500 kW, falling to $160 to $190 above 1 MW. CBRE's published asking band for Minneapolis is $165 to $175 per kW per month for 250+ kW, N+1/Tier III.
| Deployment | Monthly rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 500 kW | $245 to $295/kW-mo | Our quotes |
| Over 500 kW to 1 MW | $200 to $240/kW-mo | Our quotes |
| Over 1 MW | $160 to $190/kW-mo | Our quotes |
| 250+ kW, N+1/Tier III, asking rent | $165 to $175/kW-mo | CBRE, North America Data Center Trends H1 2026, first half of 2026 |
Smaller deployments cost more per kW. These are recent quotes we received, not a statement that space is available. Cross-connects, remote hands and one-time setup are extra. Operators often give 2–3 free months on a new term. See every region's quote ranges.
Minneapolis cabinet and cage requirements
For a Twin Cities cabinet or cage, compare the networks available in each building, the usable power commitment and support coverage. Wholesale benchmarks and regional quotes provide context. Ask for a written quote for your exact rack count and density.
| Requirement | Quote basis | Include in the comparison |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2U or a partial cabinet | Rack units, usable power and bandwidth allocation | Access, remote hands and transfer limits |
| Full cabinet | Usable kW, circuit arrangement and contract term | Power billing, setup and monthly cross-connect charges |
| High-density cabinet | Usable kW per rack and the approved cooling design | Engineering approval, cooling charges and delivery date |
| Private cage | Rack count, total usable kW and expansion space | Carrier connections, support coverage and growth space |
Ask the operator to itemize electricity, taxes, bandwidth, cross-connects, remote hands and one-time charges. See how colocation power is billed.
Get Minneapolis colocation prices for your setup
Tell us the racks, power and timing you need. A scout comes back with matching Minneapolis options and quoted prices.
What Minneapolis operators offer
| Operator and location | Published options | Confirm in your quote |
|---|---|---|
| Atomic Data, Minneapolis Central and East | 42U locking cabinet with the top unit reserved for cross-connects, 20U usable half rack, 10U secure compartment with 7 to 8 usable units, or shared space in 1U increments. Provisioned or usage-based power. | Usable rack space, power allowance, circuit redundancy and the monthly billing method at your chosen building. |
| DataBank MSP3, Brooklyn Park | Custom cabinet and cage layouts, rear-door heat exchangers and liquid-cooling options. | Approved rack density, cooling equipment and charges, commissioned power and the date your deployment can go live. |
DataBank's MSP3 brochure describes an expansion adding 46,770 square feet, reaching 82,231 square feet and 9 MW of critical IT power. It presents those totals as an expansion plan and gives no delivery date or amount available to lease. Confirm which hall and power allocation an offer includes.
Sources: Atomic Data's infrastructure specifications and DataBank's MSP3 brochure. Neither source posts a cabinet price or a numerical installation guarantee. A published cooling option still needs engineering approval for your equipment.
Who is actually plugged in across Minneapolis and Saint Paul
A building existing and a building being connected are different facts, and only one of them decides whether your traffic can get where it needs to go cheaply. These figures come from PeeringDB, which the network operators themselves maintain, so every row below links to the building's own public entry.
| Measure | Figure | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Buildings listed | 25 | Registered in PeeringDB across Minneapolis and Saint Paul, by 18 operators |
| Buildings with a network present | 19 | 6 carry no network presence, which usually means single tenant or simply unregistered |
| Network presences | 209 | Counted per building, so a carrier in three buildings counts three times |
| Internet exchange presences | 17 | Where you can reach many networks through one port instead of many cross-connects |
| Carrier presences | 38 | The physical transport choice you can buy without leaving the building |
| In the densest building | 40% | Cologix MIN1 holds 83 of the market's network presences |
The most connected buildings here
| Networks | Building | Operator | Exchanges | Carriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 83 | Cologix MIN1 | Cologix, Inc. | 6 | 9 |
| 23 | Cologix MIN3 | Cologix, Inc. | 3 | 4 |
| 17 | Cologix MIN2 | Cologix, Inc. | 3 | 6 |
| 16 | Ridgeview Minnetonka | Ridgeview | 1 | 6 |
| 11 | DataBank Minneapolis (MSP2) | DataBank, Ltd. | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | Cologix MIN4 | Cologix, Inc. | 2 | 4 |
| 7 | US Internet - Minnetonka | US Internet | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | DataBank Minneapolis (MSP4) | DataBank, Ltd. | 2 | 0 |
From PeeringDB, which is maintained by the network operators present in these buildings rather than by the landlords, which is what makes it worth more than a directory. Two limits. Entries are voluntary, so a building showing no networks may be single tenant or may simply never have registered. And a network being present says nothing about whether the building has space, power or a price for you: that is still a call.
Market profileWhy the Twin Cities is a market at all
Minneapolis and Saint Paul serve corporate headquarters, healthcare, finance and manufacturing workloads. A local deployment can keep equipment close to the people supporting it. The choice between a downtown carrier hotel and a suburban facility depends on the networks, power and operating support the workload needs.
The PeeringDB snapshot above places about two in five network presences at Cologix MIN1. If you need particular carriers or exchanges, compare the actual building connections before treating two metro locations as interchangeable. For a suburban site, include the circuit back to the carrier hotel in both the price and delivery schedule.
What has been announced in Minneapolis and Saint Paul
Large projects are at different stages. Chaska records preliminary approval for CloudHQ with final review pending. Farmington records planning approvals and a May 2026 demolition permit. These milestones do not establish delivered capacity or space available to lease; compare them with the operator-reported availability and facility options on this page. Read the reporting.
Announced capacity is collected by hand from trade reporting and company statements, and each figure links to the report it came from. It is never added to a permit count: a permit is a document a jurisdiction issued, an announcement is a plan a company published. Neither is availability.
Power billing and delivery dates
Atomic Data's provisioned and usage-based power options illustrate why two cabinet quotes can have different bills. Ask whether you pay for committed capacity, measured consumption or both. Have each operator state usable kW, A/B circuit arrangements, electricity charges, taxes and escalation terms on the same quote.
For a high-density rack, get the cooling design approved before agreeing to a move date. Ask for separate dates for cabinet access, usable power, cooling and carrier service. An expansion plan or a promise of rapid deployment does not establish that all four will be ready for your equipment.
What the local project records show
| Project | Official record | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| CloudHQ, Chaska | The city describes a roughly 1.5 million-square-foot proposal at 2007 Schoolmaster Drive. Its City Council approved the preliminary site plan and plat on October 21, 2024. | The city reports that no final application has been submitted and gives no final-review timetable. Preliminary approval does not establish a building delivery date. |
| Farmington Technology Park | Permit FA062506, issued May 22, 2026, authorizes demolition of a clubhouse and garage at 2830 220th Street West for Mnlco Farmington LLC. | This documents demolition work on the project site. It does not authorize construction of a data center or establish commissioned capacity. |
Sources: City of Chaska project status and approval history and Farmington's issued demolition permit. These are selected project records. Neither establishes space available for your lease.
Where the market actually is, submarket by submarket
Downtown Minneapolis and the 511 Building
Start here when carrier and exchange access drives the requirement. The PeeringDB snapshot shows the concentration of networks at Cologix MIN1 and the other downtown addresses. Price the exact connections you need.
Minnetonka and the western suburbs
Compare these sites for enterprise production and recovery workloads. Include transport to your offices and to downtown networks when comparing the monthly bill.
Brooklyn Park
DataBank MSP3 publishes cabinet, cage and liquid-cooling options. Confirm the commissioned hall, rack density and power allocation in the offer rather than using the campus expansion total as available capacity.
Farmington and Chaska projects
Read each city's planning and permit records for the specific milestone. A preliminary approval or demolition permit helps explain a project's progress, but a lease decision still needs an operator's offer and delivery commitment.
When this market is right, and when it is the wrong choice
Shortlist the Twin Cities when proximity to Minnesota offices, local support or downtown network access matters to the workload. For recovery from a Chicago primary, compare Minneapolis with Wisconsin and test the actual replication path, latency and separation of dependencies.
If you need several interchangeable sites at the same density and date, confirm those choices before committing to the market. The number of buildings, a campus expansion total and a planning approval each answer a different question from whether an operator can deliver your requirement.
Ask for the building, usable power, approved cooling design, carrier list and handover dates. Put recurring electricity, bandwidth, cross-connects and support beside setup costs and escalation terms. Compare that complete offer with the Minneapolis wholesale benchmark or regional quote band that matches its scope.