New Facts: YouGov reports majority opposition to data centers

Nearly two-thirds of Americans would oppose a new data center in their community (63%), while 19% would support one. Majorities of Democrats (71%) and independents (66%) oppose, and about half of Republicans do too (52%). Support runs 28% among Republicans, 15% among independents, and 14% among Democrats.

People who use AI are more supportive than non‑users but still mostly oppose local projects: 24% support and 58% oppose among users, versus 12% support and 70% oppose among non‑users. Looking nationwide, 51% say building more data centers is bad for the country and 20% say it is good; even AI users lean negative (45% bad, 26% good).

Concerns focus on local impacts. Six in ten think a nearby data center would raise their electricity bills. Nearly half think it would lower home values (46%), while only one in ten think it would raise them.

On political stewardship of the issue, more Americans trust Democrats than Republicans to handle data centers (37% to 30%), while a third say they trust both parties equally (33%).

AI-synthesized from multiple reported sources