Data Centers Not Welcome: New Poll Shows 56% of Texans Oppose Them — 62% in Rural Areas

Construction continues on the Meta Platforms data center complex on a 1,000-acre site in far Northeast El Paso. Omar Ornelas / El Paso Times / USA TODAY Network via Reuters

The Numbers

A new poll from the University of Texas / Texas Politics Project, surveying 1,200 registered voters (margin of error ±2.83 pts), found:

• 56% of Texans oppose data center construction in their community
• Only 29% support it
• In rural areas: 62% oppose, only 22% support
• Democrats: 71% oppose
• Independents: 62% oppose
• Republicans: 44% oppose vs. 42% in favor — the industry's supposed political base is split
• 49% of all respondents expect AI to have a negative impact on the economy; only 29% expect a positive impact

Texas Is Ground Zero

Texas is poised to become the No. 1 data center market in the United States, with more planned projects than any other state. A Texas Tribune analysis identified 248 planned data centers statewide — roughly half located in unincorporated rural counties where local governments have limited regulatory power to stop them.

That's not a coincidence. Developers specifically target rural, red-county land for its lower cost and weaker oversight. The communities most affected are the ones least equipped to fight back.

Hood County: A Preview of What's Coming

In Hood County — a small, rural Texas county — eight data centers are threatening to permanently transform the area. Local officials told the Tribune they have no power to stop them. No zoning authority. No meaningful water or energy oversight. Just a community watching its land and infrastructure get reshaped by facilities that will employ fewer than 50 people once they're running.

The $1 Billion Tax Break the State Can't Afford

Texas has been handing data center developers a sales tax exemption that costs the state more than $1 billion per year, according to a Tribune analysis. That's a billion dollars annually that does not go to roads, schools, water infrastructure, or healthcare — diverted instead to some of the most profitable corporations in human history.

Even Republican leadership is now turning on the deal. On June 10, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a letter to state regulators voicing support for tighter regulation of data center energy and water use and calling for the repeal of the sales tax exemption. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick directed Senate committees in March to explore legislation regulating water and energy use. When Texas Republicans are calling for data center regulation, the political math has fundamentally shifted.

What the Poll Director Said

"What the data underlines is how much of a problem the business stakeholders that are heavily in favor of [data center development] have on their hands. I think the pushback on the issue emerged more quickly and is more widespread than the conventional response to economic development in Texas has historically."

— James Henson, co-director, UT/Texas Politics Project

Henson added that the Texas Legislature is "almost certain" to act on data center regulation when its next session opens in January 2027 — and that the issue could weigh on this November's general election across the state.

The Pattern Is National

This poll joins a growing body of evidence that opposition to data centers is not a local quirk — it is a national political reality. A Gallup poll found 7 in 10 Americans oppose data centers in their area. In Saline Township, Michigan, residents are filing recall petitions over a 2.2 million square foot OpenAI facility. In Virginia and Georgia, communities have blocked or slowed billions in projects. And now Texas — the industry's biggest frontier — is showing the same numbers.

The industry bet that rural communities would stay quiet and that red states would protect their tax breaks. The polls say otherwise.

Sources: Texas Tribune — "Data centers not welcome: New poll shows most Texans oppose them in their communities" by Paul Cobler (June 23, 2026); UT/Texas Politics Project June 2026 Poll; Texas Tribune — Hood County data center coverage (June 2, 2026); Texas Tribune — Data center tax break analysis (April 2026).