COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio voters across political and age groups are expressing skepticism about data center development, with recent polling showing strong opposition to facilities in local communities and support for government restrictions. An average of 70.75% of respondents in four polls opposed building a data center in their community, according to a review of national and Ohio surveys. The polls also found generally unfavorable views of data centers across party affiliations and age groups, though individual poll results varied. In a survey of 800 likely Ohio voters conducted Aug. 19-23, UpONE Insights found that 67% viewed data centers unfavorably. The poll’s margin of error was 3.46 percentage points. UpONE, led by longtime Republican pollster Robert Blizzard, also found that 81% supported government guardrails, including requiring data centers to cover their own costs. A separate survey by Bowling Green State University and YouGov, conducted Sept. 1-10 among 1,000 likely Ohio voters, found that 54% opposed data center construction anywhere in the United States. The poll had a margin of error of 3.96 percentage points. It also found that 78% supported a temporary ban on new data centers while more information is gathered about their effects. The Ohio surveys suggest residents are familiar with the issue: 86% of respondents in the UpONE poll said they had consumed at least some news about data centers, including 44% who said they had consumed a lot. In the BGSU survey, 97% said they had at least some information, and half said they had heard or read a lot. The polling comes amid efforts to promote data center construction for economic development. Ohio has nearly 200 such facilities, which store and process information used for digital services, including streaming and artificial intelligence. The facilities’ rapid growth has made their local effects and the public costs of infrastructure a subject of debate. The four-poll average included the two Ohio surveys, an NBC News Decision Desk poll of 7,105 U.S. adults conducted Aug. 20-Sept. 1, and an Echelon Insights poll of 1,002 likely U.S. voters conducted Sept. 17-21. Their stated margins of error were 3.3 and 3.6 percentage points, respectively. Ohio lawmakers have already paused a sales-tax exemption for data centers. The survey results indicate broad voter support for further limits, although poll findings reflect respondents’ views at the time the surveys were conducted and do not themselves establish the effects of data center projects.