Here’s the updated version with broader power-and-water-use context added:
A majority of likely U.S. voters oppose having a large data center built in their community, even as most say the issue should be handled by state and local governments rather than Congress, according to a new Rasmussen Reports survey.
The national telephone and online survey found that 52% of likely voters would oppose a proposal to build a data center in their community, including 35% who said they would strongly oppose it. Thirty-nine percent said they would support such a project, including 15% who said they would strongly support it.
The findings come as the rapid growth of artificial intelligence has increased demand for massive data centers, prompting concerns from environmental groups and local communities over energy use, water consumption, land use, noise and other impacts.
However, some analysts argue that the public debate over data centers often lacks broader context. A June 16 New York Post opinion piece argued that data centers have become a political and environmental scapegoat for broader concerns about artificial intelligence. Citing data from the Taxpayers Protection Alliance, the article noted that data centers accounted for 0.2% of New York state’s water consumption and 3.5% of its electricity consumption in 2025. The same data showed Florida data centers using 0.1% of the state’s water and 1.6% of its electricity, while Virginia — one of the nation’s major data center hubs — saw data centers use 1.4% of water and 4.6% of electricity.
The Post article also argued that data center water use remains small compared with other sectors. It cited agriculture as accounting for about 80% of U.S. water use and golf courses as using 476 billion gallons of water annually, while data centers account for less than 1% of national water consumption. The article also contended that some energy-use projections are inflated by assumptions or double-counting, while acknowledging that data centers can still create local concerns that require planning and community engagement.
Despite that broader context, voters remain wary of having a data center near them. Rasmussen found that 37% of likely voters believe Congress should pass legislation to regulate data center construction at the national level, while 51% said decisions about data centers should be left to state and local governments. Another 12% were unsure.
Republicans were more likely than Democrats or unaffiliated voters to support a data center in their own community. Forty-eight percent of Republicans said they would at least somewhat support such a project, compared with 36% of Democrats and 32% of unaffiliated voters. Opposition was highest among unaffiliated voters at 59%, followed by Democrats at 55% and Republicans at 44%.
Views on federal regulation were more mixed. Democrats and Republicans were both at 35% support for congressional regulation, while 30% of unaffiliated voters supported national legislation. Half of self-identified liberal voters said data center construction should be regulated at the national level, while 56% of conservatives and 55% of moderates said the issue should remain with state and local governments.
The survey also found a gender gap. Men were more likely than women to support a data center in their community, with 44% of men backing such a proposal compared with 34% of women. Men were also more likely to favor national regulation by Congress.
Opposition varied by race and ethnicity. Fifty-seven percent of white voters said they would oppose a data center in their community, compared with 40% of Black voters, 38% of Hispanic voters and 60% of other minority voters. Black voters were the most likely group to support federal legislation regulating data center construction.
Age was also a factor. Voters 50 and older were the most likely to oppose having a data center built in their community, while voters under 30 were the most likely to favor congressional regulation.
By income, voters earning between $30,000 and $50,000 annually were the most likely to support a data center in their community. Voters earning between $100,000 and $200,000 were the most likely to say the issue should be left to state and local governments.
Retirees were among the most opposed to data centers, with 59% saying they would oppose one being built in their community. That compares with 55% of private-sector workers and 49% of government employees.
The Rasmussen Reports survey of 1,129 likely U.S. voters was conducted June 21-23, 2026, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work was conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.
