Poll: 44% of Pennsylvanians say they're financially worse off now, while a majority oppose AI data centers

Almost half of Pennsylvania voters say they are worse off financially compared with one year ago, while nearly 3 in 4 say they do not want an artificial intelligence data center in their backyard, according to a new poll released Wednesday.

The Quinnipiac University survey of 895 registered Pennsylvania voters has a 4.3-percentage-point margin of error.

According to the poll, 44% of Pennsylvania voters believe they are financially worse off than a year ago, as gas prices have fluctuated amid the ongoing war between the United States and Iran. That opinion was politically split, as 64% of Democrats said they are financially worse off now, while 61% of Republican voters polled said they are better off this year than last. Just 34% of respondents said the nation’s economy is excellent or good, while 53% think it is getting worse.

Meanwhile, 76% Pennsylvania voters said they would oppose data center construction in their communities — a broad swath that includes Democrats, Republicans, and independents.

Almost half of the voters polled have an unfavorable opinion of artificial intelligence itself.

“People are really troubled by this new industry,” said Tim Malloy, a polling analyst at Quinnipiac. “It’s about noise, it’s about water, it’s about taxes, and it’s about … not understanding exactly what it is.”

Quinnipiac’s poll also shows Pennsylvania voters have not been satisfied with the state’s policy responses so far. When asked if they approve of “the way Gov. Josh Shapiro is handling data centers in Pennsylvania,” just 24% of the surveyed voters said they approve. Among the Democrats polled, 40% said they approve.

The results of the poll, conducted June 9 to 13, come days after Pennsylvania lawmakers and Shapiro approved new regulations on data centers as part of the 2026-27 state budget.

Starting next summer, data centers will be required to submit information about their energy and water usage to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection annually. Those reports will be available to the public, and data center operators that do not comply will be fined $10,000 per day.

But other restrictions on data centers that saw bipartisan support ultimately failed to pass in the budget package and will remain on the table when legislators return this fall.

Those include an effort championed by Shapiro to limit sales and use tax exemptions benefiting developers, though it would not apply to the $20 billion Amazon project already underway, including a data center in Falls Township.

Efforts to enact local or statewide moratoriums on data center development were not included in the final state budget, either.

AI data centers also remain top-of-mind for the voters polled by Quinnipiac, with 76% saying they are following news about them very closely or somewhat closely. The centers ranked among voters’ top issues, with 42% saying they factor into their decision about whom to vote for in the election for governor.

But other issues — namely the economy and cost of living — top the list, with healthcare just behind.

Shapiro stays popular

Shapiro otherwise remains popular among Pennsylvania voters.

In the poll, 51% of respondents reported having a favorable opinion of Shapiro, and 56% approve of the way he is handling his job as governor.

“Pennsylvanians agree that Governor Josh Shapiro is delivering results for families, seniors, and businesses all across the Commonwealth by showing up, listening, and getting stuff done,” his campaign said in a statement.

Shapiro, a first-term Democrat, is seeking reelection in November, running against Republican State Treasurer Stacy Garrity. The poll released Wednesday found that 53% of those surveyed would vote for Shapiro, while 40% said they would vote for Garrity. That is a slight change from Quinnipiac’s February poll, when 55% of voters supported Shapiro and 37% said they favored Garrity.

Garrity, meanwhile, appears to be struggling to gain traction. Just 22% of Pennsylvania voters have a favorable opinion of her, according to the latest poll, while 58% said they have not heard enough about her. Half of the Republicans surveyed said they did not know her well enough to give an opinion.

More than half of independent voters, 58%, said they would vote for Shapiro in a head-to-head matchup.

“Usually, it’s not the death knell when not enough people know enough about you, but it sure as heck doesn’t help, and the election’s not that far away,” Malloy said. “Barring some dramatic change in opinion about the current governor, or something that she does or says which just catches fire with people, she’s got a huge uphill climb.”

Though he has brushed off questions about potential presidential ambitions, insisting he is focused on the state election in November, Shapiro has continued to build a national profile, with media appearances and a book tour.

Trump approval remains low

Though he remains strong with the Republican base, only 39% of Pennsylvania voters polled said they would give President Donald Trump a positive job approval. His approval is nearly nonexistent with Democrats at 2%, but even among independents, only 31% rate him well.

That outlook comes two years after Trump carried Pennsylvania in the 2024 election. He visited the state Wednesday to tout new investments in Pennsylvania’s defense industry.

In the forthcoming midterm elections, Pennsylvania voters gave Democrats the slight edge — 49% to 43% — as their preference to control the U.S. House of Representatives over the Republican Party.

The Quinnipiac poll also showed voters are able to distinguish between state level and national concerns, with 53% saying they are very or somewhat satisfied with how things are going in Pennsylvania.