diff --git a/esphome/core/__init__.py b/esphome/core/__init__.py
index cca758e3c1..4897b073fa 100644
--- a/esphome/core/__init__.py
+++ b/esphome/core/__init__.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ from esphome.coroutine import FakeEventLoop as _FakeEventLoop
 
 # pylint: disable=unused-import
 from esphome.coroutine import coroutine, coroutine_with_priority  # noqa
-from esphome.helpers import ensure_unique_string, is_ha_addon
+from esphome.helpers import ensure_unique_string, get_str_env, is_ha_addon
 from esphome.util import OrderedDict
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
@@ -558,6 +558,8 @@ class EsphomeCore:
     def data_dir(self):
         if is_ha_addon():
             return os.path.join("/data")
+        if get_str_env("ESPHOME_DATA_DIR", None) is not None:
+            return get_str_env("ESPHOME_DATA_DIR", None)
         return self.relative_config_path(".esphome")
 
     @property