American Sentiment classifies 90.5% of comments in its 2026 U.S. local-meeting collection as negative. The database counts 10,202 comments from 906 meetings in 48 states; those figures describe comments made at public meetings, not a representative survey of U.S. residents. American Sentiment reports that 7% of comments were positive and 2.5% were questions.
What the meeting comments count
The collection covers 417 local governments. It records remarks made at meetings, rather than polling a representative sample of the population, so the 90.5% result describes the comments classified in that database. American Sentiment also reports that 73% of tracked meetings had no data-center supporters speaking.
The database’s chart lists water use as the most frequent concern, with 3,621 comments. It lists quality-of-life effects in 3,388 comments and lack of transparency in 3,291. The chart also counts 2,046 comments that mention AI. These are counts of comments, not estimates of how many Americans hold a particular view.
Among comments taking a side, the database reports opposition in 92.4% of comments from Democratic-voting counties and 93.1% from Republican-voting counties. Those figures describe comments grouped by county voting pattern, not the views of Democratic or Republican voters as a whole.
How the LocalView study differs
A separate study by Adam Rauh, Mason Reece and Tyler Simko analyzes LocalView meeting records from 2009–2026. It reports that public speakers were less supportive of data centers than local officials in meeting discussions. The authors say the study examines local governance debates rather than estimating representative national opinion. Their LocalView study uses a different collection and different units from American Sentiment, so the results describe distinct bodies of meeting discussion.
| Record set | Period | What it counts | Reported pattern |
| American Sentiment | 2026 | 10,202 comments across 906 meetings in 48 states | 90.5% of comments classified as negative; water use leads the concern chart |
| LocalView study | 2009–2026 | 1,707 meetings and about 10,000 discussion segments | Public speakers were less supportive than local officials |
The LocalView study reports 75.78% overall agreement in tone coding. Its finding adds a separate view of meeting debates, but neither study measures the share of all U.S. residents who oppose data centers.
