63% of US voters oppose a data center within 10 miles: what the CNBC poll found, and data centers in the 2026 midterms

A new data center poll shows how far local opposition has spread. CNBC's All-America Economic Survey found that 63% of US registered voters oppose an AI data center within 10 miles of their home and 13% support one, CNBC reported on October 24, 2026. The finding arrives ten days before the November 3 midterm elections, in which candidates in both parties are campaigning on data centers' effects on power bills, water and land.

This story is based on CNBC's October 24 article and the survey's published topline from Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies (both checked October 26, 2026); Gallup's, Pew Research Center's and Heatmap's published polls; Roll Call's October 19 report on Senate debates; Brookings's August 25 analysis; and the Associated Press, checked October 25, 2026. For one local response, see San Francisco's 45-day data center moratorium.

The short version

• The poll: 1,000 registered voters, October 14–18, 2026, by Hart Research Associates and Public Opinion Strategies for CNBC; ±3.1 points overall and ±4.38 points on the data center question, which went to about half the sample.
• The result: 63% oppose and 13% support a data center within 10 miles of home; 22% wouldn't care either way. Democrats: 80% oppose, 4% support. Supporters of the MAGA movement: 40% oppose, 29% support.
• On AI policy: 52% say companies should pause advanced AI development until Congress passes regulations, against 32% who favor moving forward so the US stays competitive with China.
• It matches other polls: Gallup (71% oppose, March), Heatmap/Embold (75% oppose, August) and Pew (60% not comfortable, August) found majority opposition too.

What did the CNBC data center poll find?

The question, asked of half the sample, was: "If an AI data center was proposed within 10 miles of your house, would you..." support it, oppose it or not care either way. According to the topline, 63% said they'd oppose it, 13% support it, 22% not care either way and 2% weren't sure. The results by group below come from CNBC's October 24 story; the topline doesn't include them.

The survey also asked which party would do a better job dealing with data centers: 32% chose Democrats, 24% Republicans, 13% said both about the same and 27% said neither would do a good job, according to the topline. Among MAGA supporters, nearly 55% said companies should keep developing advanced AI while Congress writes rules, while 27% favored a pause, CNBC reported.

Subgroup margins of error weren't reported. The 52% "pause" result, asked of all 1,000 voters, is tied to Congress passing regulations "to make sure it is safe before it is widely used," in the topline's wording, not a call to stop AI development permanently; 13% said they didn't know enough to have an opinion.

How does it compare with other polls?

Each national poll cited here found more opposition than support, though the questions differ.

• Gallup asked 1,000 adults on March 2–18, 2026, whether they favor or oppose building AI data centers in their local area (±4 points). Seventy-one percent opposed, 48% strongly; 27% were in favor.
• Pew Research Center surveyed 10,548 adults from July 20 to August 9, 2026. Sixty percent said they would be not too or not at all comfortable with a new data center in their area, and 54% said data centers are mostly bad for the environment, up from 39% in January.
• Heatmap, with Embold Research, polled 2,045 registered voters on August 8–13, 2026 (±2.3 points): 75% opposed a new data center near where they live, against roughly 43% support and 42% opposition in August 2025.
• UMBC's Maryland poll of 776 likely voters, September 22–27, 2026, found nearly 8 in 10 opposed, Maryland Matters reported.

Gallup's poll gives the clearest partisan breakdown from a primary release:

Share opposing AI data centers in their local area, by party (Gallup, March 2026)

Percent of US adults, somewhat or strongly oppose

All adults71

Democrats75

Independents74

Republicans63

Show the data

Group	Oppose
All adults	71
Democrats	75
Independents	74
Republicans	63

In Gallup's survey, 75% of Democrats, 74% of independents and 63% of Republicans opposed local data centers. That's a narrower partisan gap than CNBC's figures suggest, though the two polls asked different questions of different populations.

How are data centers playing in the 2026 midterms?

They've become a campaign issue in both parties. Roll Call reported on October 19, 2026, that data centers came up in debates or ads in five Senate races:

• Ohio: Democrat Sherrod Brown calls Republican Sen. Jon Husted "the face of data centers" over tax breaks. Husted sponsors the Senate version of the Ratepayer Protection Act, which would encourage states to make data centers pay for grid upgrades.
• Georgia: Democrat Jon Ossoff ties Republican Rep. Mike Collins's vote for the 2025 "One Big Beautiful Bill" to data center tax breaks; Collins says he favors "local control."
• Texas: Democrat James Talarico accuses Republican Ken Paxton of "selling off Texas" to data center companies.
• Maine: Republican Sen. Susan Collins backs Husted's bill; Democrat Troy Jackson calls for "real guardrails."
• Michigan: Republican Mike Rogers, who has backed a one-year construction pause, wants data center property taxes to lower residents' costs; Democrat Abdul El-Sayed supports "terms of engagement."

At the state level, Brookings reported on August 25 that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an executive order setting new rules for data centers, and that New York has a statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers.

President Trump has pushed the other way. On August 31, 2026, the AP reported, he wrote on Truth Social that communities that reject data centers would "end up being backwards and poor," and that "If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame." Vice President JD Vance said data center companies should generate their own power.

Local fights are where this opposition turns into policy. San Francisco's supervisors passed a 45-day data center moratorium on October 6, 2026, and Oakland approved its own the same day. Outside the US, Google faces scrutiny over forest clearing in Finland and local opposition to its Visakhapatnam AI hub in India.

What's confirmed, reported and uncertain

• Confirmed (pollsters' and CNBC's own releases): Gallup's, Pew's and Heatmap's results and methods; the CNBC survey's method, question wording and overall results (topline); the CNBC results by party and for MAGA supporters (CNBC's story).
• Reported: the Senate race details (Roll Call); Trump's post (AP); Pennsylvania and New York actions (Brookings).
• Uncertain: subgroup margins of error and the full subgroup results in the CNBC survey; whether data center positions will move votes on November 3.