By John Gramlich, Brian Kennedy, Colleen McClain and Galen Stocking
Pew Research Center

A broad majority of Americans have heard about data centers – the often-sprawling computing facilities that are popping up nationwide – but have mixed opinions about their impact in various areas, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. 

Attitudes are more negative than positive when it comes to these facilities’ impact on the environment, home energy costs and people’s quality of life nearby. In turn, larger shares of Americans view their economic effects as more positive than negative.

The key findings from the survey include:

  • Three-quarters of Americans say they’ve heard or read a lot (25%) or a little (50%) about data centers. The remaining 25% say they have heard nothing at all about them.
  • More Americans say data centers have a negative effect on the environment, home energy costs and people’s quality of life nearby than say they have a positive effect. Far more say data centers are mostly bad than good for the environment (39% compared with 4%), home energy costs (38% compared with 6%) and the quality of life for those nearby (30% compared with 6%).
  • In contrast, Americans are more likely to see more positive than negative effects on local jobs and local tax revenue. More adults say data centers are mostly good rather than bad for local jobs (25% compared with 15%) and local tax revenue (23% compared with 12%). Still, Americans are less likely to express positive views of data centers’ impact in these areas than to express negative views of their effects on the environment, energy costs and people’s quality of life nearby.
  • For many Americans, the jury’s still out. About 1 in 5 Americans or more say they aren’t sure of data centers’ impact in each of the five areas the survey asked about. Others say these facilities have neither a positive nor negative impact in each area or haven’t heard about data centers at all.

Data centers have long housed the infrastructure for the internet and cloud computing. But they have drawn new attention in recent years as the global race to develop artificial intelligence intensifies. Tech companies have invested hundreds of billions of dollars to construct the buildings, which are filled with computer equipment that can help train and run AI models (among many other functions).

The United States now has more than 4,000 such facilities, with especially large numbers in Virginia, Texas and California. The rapid spread of data centers has prompted debates over their effects on local communities.

Partisan Differences Over Data Centers’ Impact

Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents generally view the impact of data centers more negatively than Republicans and Republican leaners do.

Half of Democrats say data centers are mostly bad for the environment, compared with 31% of Republicans. Democrats are also more likely than Republicans to say data centers are mostly bad for home energy costs (44% compared with 33%) and people’s quality of life nearby (37% compared with 24%).

Few Democrats and Republicans alike say data centers are mostly good for the environment, home energy costs and people’s quality of life. Republicans are more likely to say that the facilities’ impact in these areas is neither good nor bad, or that they are not sure.

Liberal Democrats stand out for their negative views about data centers’ impact in all five areas the survey asked about. For example, majorities of liberal Democrats say these facilities are mostly bad for the environment (66%) and home energy costs (57%). Far fewer moderate or conservative Democrats share these views (38% and 35%). Republicans differ little by ideology.

Age Differences Over Data Centers’ Impact

Younger adults also tend to have more negative views of data centers than older adults do.

For example, 54% of adults under 30 say data centers have a mostly negative effect on the environment. That compares with 44% of adults ages 30 to 49, 35% of those 50 to 64 and 26% of those 65 and older.

The age pattern is similar with the other items in the survey.

How Awareness of Data Centers Relates to Views of Their Impact

Some groups of Americans are more likely than others to say they’ve heard a lot about data centers. These groups include men, people in upper-income households and college graduates, a common pattern.

Americans who have heard a lot about data centers are more likely than those who have heard a little to say the facilities have a negative impact in all five areas the survey asked about.

For instance, two-thirds of adults who have heard a lot about data centers say they’re mostly bad for home energy costs, compared with 42% of those who have heard a little. And 63% of those who have heard a lot about the facilities say they’re mostly bad for the environment, compared with 48% of those who have heard a little.

Americans who have heard a lot about data centers are also less likely than those who have heard a little to say they’re not sure about the effects of these facilities.