ATLANTA—Some of the least expensive markets to operate a 5-megawatt (MW) enterprise data center over a 10-year period are right here in the Southeast. The reasons are clear: plenty of tax incentives for enterprise data centers and the region's low power and land costs.

That's according to a new report from CBRE Group. The study modeled the cost of constructing, commissioning, and operating a 5 MW data center for 10 years across 30 US markets. The report categorizes markets into three cost bands—low, moderate and high—according to analysis of tax incentives, power, construction, land and labor and other cost components.

"Atlanta is a low-cost market across the board, coming in below the national average in almost all areas that impact data centers," says John Ferguson, division president for CBRE in the Southeast. "State and local incentives, coupled with Atlanta's organic tech growth and tech momentum, help to make the city a competitive option for enterprise data centers."