More than half of New Jerseyans say data centers cost more than they’re worth, and nearly three in four don’t want one built in their town, according to a new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll.
Asked to weigh the jobs and tax revenue data centers could bring against their use of electricity and water and the prospect of higher utility bills, 55% of residents said the costs outweigh the benefits. Just 11% said the benefits come out ahead, 19% called it a wash and 16% weren’t sure.
Opposition eases a bit as a proposed site moves farther from home, but it never goes away:
- In their own town: 72% opposed, 21% supportive
- In a neighboring county: 64% opposed, 26% supportive
- Anywhere in the state: 62% opposed, 30% supportive
Ashley Koning, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers-New Brunswick, said no group comes close to embracing them.
“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,” she said. “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.”
***
The resistance comes even as AI has become part of daily life.
More than a third of residents (36%) said they purposely use AI tools, such as chatbots, writing or image generators or AI assistants, at least once a day. More than half (55%) said they interact with AI daily through built-in features in search engines, social media and other everyday technology. About one in five said they never use AI tools on purpose.
But residents are far more upbeat about what AI does for them personally than for society:
- Day-to-day life: 30% positive, 21% negative, 42% mixed
- Education: 20% positive, 39% negative, 38% mixed
- Jobs: 14% positive, 43% negative, 35% mixed
- Environment: 12% positive, 48% negative, 26% mixed
“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.”
She said that leaves lawmakers in a tough spot.
“A sizeable share of residents uses AI both actively and passively, yet they do not want the data centers that house it built anywhere near them,” she said. “That is a difficult place for any new technology to be and a difficult one for policymakers to legislate around.”
***
Democrats, Republicans and independents use AI at nearly identical rates, with roughly a third of each using AI tools daily. They split on what they think of it.
Republicans are far less negative. Just 24% say AI hurts jobs, compared with 52% of Democrats and 46% of independents. On the environment, 25% of Republicans see a negative impact, compared with 57% of Democrats and 53% of independents.
The same divide shows up on data centers. Thirty-four percent of Republicans would support one in their own town, compared with 19% of independents and 14% of Democrats. And 37% of Republicans say the costs outweigh the benefits, compared with 57% of independents and 63% of Democrats.
“Who uses AI is a question of age, education, income and where you live — not partisanship,” Koning said. “Party takes over once you ask what people think, both about AI’s impact and about data centers, though it is far from the only divide.”
***
Age is one of the sharpest of those divides, and it comes with an interesting factoid: Younger residents use AI the most, yet they’re the most skeptical of it.
Fifty-three percent of those 18 to 34 use AI tools daily, compared with 19% of those 65 and older. But the youngest group is also the most negative about AI’s impact on jobs (58%) and the environment (69%), the most opposed to data centers in the state (73%) and the most likely to say the costs outweigh the benefits (66%).
Other findings:
- Gender: Women are more negative than men about AI’s impact on their daily lives (26% versus 13%) and on education (44% versus 32%).
- Education and income: Daily use and positive views rise with both. Twenty percent of those with a high school education or less use AI tools daily, compared with 44% of college graduates.
- Region: Urban (52%) and suburban (41%) residents are the heaviest daily users, compared with about 27% to 28% in exurban areas, the Philadelphia/South Jersey region and the shore.
The poll of 1,004 adults was conducted Sept. 24-27 through the Rutgers-Eagleton/SSRS Garden State Panel. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
