Common Questions

What did the Gallup poll say about data centres in 2026?

A May 2026 Gallup poll of 1,000 US adults found 71% oppose building data centres in their local area, with 48% strongly opposed. Only 25% were in favour. Opposition exceeded Gallup's 53% against new nuclear plants on the same survey wave.Source: Lowdown data-centres

Why do Americans oppose data centres in their neighbourhoods?

In Gallup's March 2026 survey, half of opponents cited excessive resource use (water and energy consumption) as the primary concern, while 16% cited pollution. Community opposition is also linked to noise, visual impact, and the perception that data centres create few local jobs for the land and power they consume.Source: Lowdown data-centres

Is Gallup still doing presidential approval ratings?

No. In February 2026 Gallup announced it would discontinue presidential approval ratings, stating these metrics are now widely produced, aggregated, and interpreted by many others. This marked the end of an 85-year Gallup tradition.Source: Wikipedia

Background

Gallup is the United States' pre-eminent public opinion research company, founded in 1935 by George Gallup in Princeton, New Jersey. Now employee-owned and headquartered in Washington DC, it conducts polling across 160 countries via the Gallup World Poll, employs approximately 1,500 people, and is recognised as the gold standard for US political, social, and workplace opinion measurement.

In the data-centre context, Gallup published the first major national survey on data-centre attitudes in May 2026. Conducted on 1,000 US adults between 2 and 18 March 2026, the poll found that 71% of Americans oppose building data centres in their local area, with 48% strongly opposed and only 25% in favour. Opposition exceeded even the 53% against new nuclear plants Gallup recorded on the same wave. Half of opponents cited excessive resource use as the primary concern; 16% cited pollution.

The Gallup finding arrives as five US states voted on moratoriums in a single week, and as Amazon agreed a $20.5 million settlement over data-centre nitrate pollution in Oregon. The 71% figure provides legislative cover for local politicians resisting hyperscaler planning applications and is likely to be cited repeatedly in zoning hearings. It also creates a measured baseline: if the industry makes meaningful progress on water, power, and environmental performance, future Gallup surveys will record whether the number moves.

Source Material

Gallup, Inc.

How the World Sees Them

Tech industry

Hyperscalers are wary of the Gallup finding: it suggests that community opposition to data centres is not a local idiosyncracy but a national sentiment that could accelerate moratorium legislation in jurisdictions where they have not yet faced pushback.

United States

The 71% opposition figure gives local politicians a data-backed mandate to resist hyperscaler planning applications, particularly in communities already dealing with data-centre moratoria in Northern Virginia, Georgia, Minnesota, and the Pacific Northwest.

Policy circles

Congressional staff and state legislators are already citing the Gallup poll in debates about data-centre taxation, zoning preemption, and environmental impact disclosure requirements.