Most Americans Say "Not in My Backyard" to AI Data Centers
A Redfin survey indicates that over half of U.S. residents oppose the construction of AI data centers in their neighborhoods due to concerns over resource consumption and noise. The report highlights a growing 'Not In My Backyard' (NIMBY) sentiment toward industrial AI infrastructure.
Why it matters
Public opposition to data centers could create significant regulatory and logistical hurdles for the expansion of AI infrastructure in the United States.
More than half (53%) of U.S. residents oppose the construction of an AI data center in their neighborhood, according to a recent Redfin survey. Roughly one-third (34%) support it.
This is according to a Redfin-commissioned survey conducted by Ipsos in May 2026, fielded to 4,000 U.S. residents. The results for this combined group of survey respondents have a credibility interval of +/-1.9 percentage points. This report focuses on a question about how respondents feel about building certain types of properties in their neighborhoods. The building types are listed in the chart in the final section of this report. Respondents could select “strongly support,” “somewhat support,” “strongly oppose,” “somewhat oppose,” or “no opinion.” For this report, we combined the strongly/somewhat responses.
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