Americans want the AI boom. They just do not want it on their street. A new poll finds most US residents would rather not live near an AI data centre. Yet the same buildings quietly bankroll schools where they cluster.
More than half of US residents, 53%, oppose building an AI data centre in their neighbourhood. That is according to a survey commissioned by Redfin and run by Ipsos in May. Around a third, 34%, support it. That makes data centres less welcome than any other structure Redfin asked about: 39% oppose a new apartment block, and 32% a mixed-use development.
The resistance skews older. Roughly two-thirds of baby boomers, 65%, and 60% of Gen Xers oppose a nearby data centre, against 42% of Gen Zers and 43% of millennials.
Why people push back #
The objections are practical and broad. Data centres strain power and water, raise noise, and drop large industrial buildings into residential areas. They also carry a wider dread about the technology. Nearly three in five residents, 58%, told Redfin they think AI will cut jobs and make homes harder to afford.
That mood is already shaping policy. New York recently became the first US state to freeze new data centres, and grassroots opposition has spread across the country.
The Virginia exception #
The numbers tell a more awkward story in the places that host the most data centres. Loudoun County in northern Virginia has 176 of them, more than twice any other US county. Neighbouring Prince William County ranks third nationally, with 77.
Both tax the computer equipment inside those buildings, and the money has poured in. In Loudoun, that equipment is now the largest single source of personal-property tax revenue. Such revenue per resident has risen about 639% in Loudoun over 15 years. It rose 349% in Prince William, against just 91% in neighbouring Fairfax.
Schools got the benefit. Education spending per resident climbed 77% in Loudoun, to $2,955, and 82% in Prince William, to $1,589. Teacher pay in Loudoun rose roughly 40%, to about $83,000, outpacing nearby Fairfax.
Cheaper for homeowners, for now #
The windfall let officials cut what residents pay. Prince William trimmed its real-property tax rate from $1.12 per $100 of value in 2022 to $0.92 in 2025. Loudoun cut its rate too, though rising home values clawed some of that back.
“That revenue can help fund growing budgets without putting the same pressure on residential real estate taxes,” said Redfin economist Yingqi Xu. She warned it “doesn’t automatically translate dollar-for-dollar to public spending,” a real caveat. Redfin agent Matt Ferris said his clients care less about the tax gain than the disruption.
The two findings sit uneasily together. The backlash is real, and spreading, yet the fiscal case is why some towns keep saying yes. Virginia has now added a statewide tax on the power these sites draw. Whether the trade holds, strain and noise for schools and lower bills, depends on where you live and how close you are.
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