As data center construction rapidly expands, most US households don't want it in their backyards.
A survey commissioned by Redfin found that more than 53% of residents oppose the construction of an AI data center in their neighborhoods, making the facilities far less popular than even other forms of commonly griped-about development.
Residents were less skeptical of new apartment complexes, with 39% disapproving. Thirty-two percent didn't want to see mixed-use spaces, and 48% were against converting single-family homes into multiple residences.
Data centers have come under more scrutiny in recent years as companies rush to construct them to meet artificial intelligence demand. Communities often oppose them due to their high electricity and water needs, as well as their industrial look and the noise some centers emit when running cooling fans or on-site power generators.
Local communities around the country have sought to block data center projects, and New York recently imposed a one-year moratorium on new large data centers so the state can study their environmental effects and develop a plan to regulate them.
The Redfin survey found that older Americans tend to be the most skeptical of data centers, with more than two-thirds of baby boomers and 60% of Gen X-ers opposing their construction, compared to just 43% of millennials and 42% of Gen Z-ers.
Although data centers remain unpopular, Redfin argues that they can have some benefits for local residents. The listings company analyzed financial records for two major data center hubs, Virginia's Loudoun and Prince William counties, and found that the areas have seen tax revenues and education spending rise far more quickly than other nearby counties that have had less data center construction.
Those revenue jumps have come even as the counties have cut personal property tax rates in recent years.
"Loudoun County's expanding data-center tax base has given local officials more capacity to invest in schools, including higher education spending and teacher compensation, without upping tax rates on homeowners," Redfin senior economist Yingqi Xu said in the report. "Because data centers are taxed largely through personal property taxes on computer equipment, that revenue can help fund growing budgets without putting the same pressure on residential real estate taxes."
Claire Boston* is a Senior Reporter for Yahoo Finance covering housing, mortgages, and home insurance.*
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