Nearly three-quarters of New Jersey adults oppose building a data center in their hometown, and a substantial majority don’t want them built anywhere in the state, according to a new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released Friday.
The poll found that 72% oppose a data center in their town or city, including 54% who strongly oppose it, while only 21% support one.
Opposition remains widespread even when the proposed location is farther away. Nearly two-thirds (64%) oppose a data center in a neighboring county, and 62% oppose building one anywhere in New Jersey.
By a 55%-11% margin, New Jerseyans say data centers’ costs outweigh their benefits, with 19% saying the costs and benefits are about equal.
Respondents were asked to weigh the jobs and tax revenue data centers could generate against their electricity and water consumption and the possibility of higher utility bills.
“What stands out about data centers is that no group reaches majority support anywhere – not in their own town, not in a neighboring county, not in the state at large,” said Ashley Koning, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling. “The main difference across groups is how strongly they object, and the only place any group softens is when the project is far away from them.”
Democrats oppose data centers far more than Republicans, although neither party has majority support for the facilities.
Just 14% of Democrats support a data center in their hometown, compared with 19% of independents and 34% of Republicans.
Nearly two-thirds of Democrats (63%) believe the costs outweigh the benefits, compared with 57% of independents and 37% of Republicans.
Younger New Jerseyans are among the most skeptical. Among residents ages 18 to 34, 73% oppose data centers anywhere in the state, and 66% believe the costs outweigh the benefits.
The opposition comes despite widespread use of artificial intelligence, which depends on the computing infrastructure housed in data centers.
More than one-third of residents (36%) say they intentionally use AI tools at least once a day, while 55% interact with AI daily through search engines, social media, and other everyday technology.
But residents are far less enthusiastic about AI’s broader effects.
Nearly half (48%) believe AI harms the environment, compared with 12% who see a positive impact. Forty-three percent say AI negatively affects jobs, while 39% believe it harms education.
Thirty percent say AI has a positive impact on their day-to-day lives, compared with 21% who view its impact negatively.
“Residents are willing to say AI helps their own day-to-day life, but they turn negative as soon as the question moves beyond them to education, jobs and the environment,” Koning said. “They personally find it useful but are skeptical about its broader impact.”
The Rutgers-Eagleton Poll surveyed 1,004 New Jersey adults from September 24-27 and has a margin of error of +/- 4.1%.