With the general election approaching, data centers are emerging as a flashpoint in communities nationwide. Critics pushing back say the centers strain water and electricity resources and disrupt neighborhoods.
Data centers, the physical infrastructure behind the internet, house the servers and networking equipment that powers artificial intelligence and other digital services. While they are rapidly expanding across the country, so is the opposition. A Gallup survey released in May found 70% of Americans oppose building data centers in their communities, including 48% who said they strongly oppose them.
Environmentalists and anti-AI activists argue data centers consume large amounts of water and energy, generate noise and electronic waste and create
relatively few long-term jobs. Some states and local governments are responding with new rules and oversight efforts.
Industry advocates, however, say data centers are essential infrastructure for the AI era, supporting technological innovation, creating high-paying jobs and generating tax revenue for local communities.
The debate has even attracted celebrity attention.
On Aug. 18, former Philadelphia Eagles center Jason Kelce shared a music video promoting Garage Beer, the brand he co-owns with his brother, Travis Kelce, and Liquid Death. In the ad, Kelce jokingly suggests people should urinate on data centers to help address the facilities' enormous water needs.
How many data centers are there in the United States?
As of Aug. 19, there were more than 4,700 data centers across the United States, according to the global data center directory Data Center Map.
On April 27, environmentalist Erin Brockovich launched a website called Brockovich AI Data Center Reporting, which allows Americans to report issues they encounter with data centers in their communities. Since its launch, more than 9,000 AI data centers have been cataloged on the website's interactive map, which depicts operational facilities, those under construction and those that have been proposed.
What state has the most data centers?
Deemed the "data center capital of the world," Virginia is home to the most data centers in the United States, with more than 600 in operation, according to Data Center Map. Texas follows, with more than 500.
How do data centers affect the environment?
Environmental organizations have pointed out numerous ways data centers affect the communities around them:
Energy and water consumption
In 2023, data centers consumed 176 terawatt-hours of electricity in the United States, accounting for more than 4% of the country's total electricity consumption that year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. For reference, 176 terawatt-hours could power 16 million average American homes for a year, according to SolarTech, an El Cajon, California-based solar energy company.
When it comes to water, data centers require a lot to keep them cool. Large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons of water in one day, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. This is equivalent to the water use of a town populated by 10,000 to 50,000 people.
The water used to keep data centers from overheating can come from various sources, including surface water and groundwater, municipal water and purified reclaimed water, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute. About 80% of the water that data centers withdraw evaporates, with the remaining water discharged to municipal wastewater facilities, per the institute.
Electronic waste
Data centers create a sizeable amount of electronic waste, or e-waste. When computer hardware is replaced, the old technology should be recycled; however, according to the technology social enterprise Human-I-T, only 22.3% of the world's e-waste is properly collected and recycled.
E-waste is toxic and not biodegradable. Electronic waste may expose humans and the environment to lead, mercury, arsenic, flame-retardant chemicals and other contaminants, according to the Geneva Environment Network.
Noise pollution
Data centers are also noisy. Humming cooling systems, rumbling diesel generators and whirring fans can be heard hundreds of feet around them 24/7, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.
Folks who live close to data centers have reported headaches, vertigo, nausea, sleep disturbances, ear pain and hypertension, the institute website says.
How many jobs does a data center create?
The amount of permanent, non-construction jobs created by a data center depends on a facility's size. Fom 2017 to 2023, data center employment increased by more than 50%, PwC, a national auditor, reported for the Data Center Coalition.
A 2025 review of more than 1,200 U.S. data centers by Business Insider found that, on average, a data center employs 150 workers. Some have as few as 25 employees. And the pay can be quite lucrative, with technical salaries ranging anywhere from $78,000 to $134,000, according to Indeed.
An influx of jobs means a direct impact on local economies. Making money at the local, state and national levels, the data center industry's contribution to government finances increased by 146% from 2017 to 2023, according to the PwC report.
Contributing: Mike Snider, USA TODAY
Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What are data centers, physical homes of the internet?
