Americans Divided On New Data Centers

Polling Correspondent

June 4, 2026

1 min read

The Economist/YouGov polling conducted from May 29 to June 1, 2026 asked US adults whether they think the construction of new data centers — large facilities housing computer servers for storing and transmitting data — are good or bad for the country. Respondents could say very good, somewhat good, neither good nor bad, somewhat bad, very bad, or don’t know.
Americans Divided On New Data Centers

The polling indicates that new data centre construction is broadly unpopular among US adults, with a net rating of -26% overall. Women and Harris voters express the strongest opposition, at -37% and -46% respectively, while men and Trump voters are more divided, at -14% and -10%.

The partisan split is striking given that the current administration has actively promoted the AI and data centre buildout, yet even Trump voters lean negative. The education pattern points less to disagreement over whether data centres are good or bad than to who has formed a definite opinion, with graduates far more decided than non-graduates, only 8% of whom were unsure against 17% of those without a degree.

Overall, the result shows little public enthusiasm for the data centre expansion across nearly every demographic group.

More articles by Polling Correspondent

More articles on Polls

WE MAKE SOUTH AFRICA MAKE SENSE.

HOME

OPINIONS

POLITICS

POLLS

GLOBAL

ECONOMICS

LIFE

SPORT

InstagramLinkedInXFacebook