David Hogg, a left-wing political activist and former vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee, was brutally leveled by a Community Note last week after arguing that data centers should be built in America’s wealthiest neighborhoods before anywhere else.
His post echoes a common critique of the AI data center boom, that these facilities are economically and environmentally harmful, and that they’re being forced onto poorer communities that lack the political power to stop them, all for the benefit of the rich.
The reality is actually quite the opposite. The wealthiest county in the United States, Loudoun County, Virginia, already stands as the global epicenter of AI data centers. And, far from being a burden, they generate nearly half the county’s tax revenue and deliver substantial economic benefits to its residents.
"If these data centers are so essential to our national security and economy and have such amazing benefits they should prove it by building them in the richest zip codes in America first," Hogg wrote.
If these data centers are so essential to our national security and economy and have such amazing benefits they should prove it by building them in the richest zip codes in America first. https://t.co/tfku0Nua2E
— David Hogg 🟧 (@davidhogg111) August 11, 2026
"The richest county in the US by median household income is Loudoun County, Virginia, which is also home to the world's largest concentration of data centers," a Community Note read beneath Hogg's post. "[It's] often referred to as 'Data Center Alley.'"
The #1 county for data centers is the richest county in the U.S. (Loudoun).
— Crémieux (@cremieuxrecueil) August 15, 2026
The #2 county for data centers is the second-richest county in the U.S. (Santa Clara).
What are the odds?! Not unimaginable. There's a slight correlation: https://t.co/9IObb9mbB9 pic.twitter.com/9LUaWqauCW
Not only has America’s wealthiest county already reaped major economic gains from data centers, but far poorer communities stand to benefit even more.
In Ellendale, North Dakota, an AI data center project is revitalizing a small town of roughly 1,100 people. Annual sales tax revenue has surged from about $400,000 to $3.5 million in the first seven months of 2026 alone. The project is expanding the housing stock, and the new tax base is funding street repairs, a renovated senior center, a new public-safety complex, and other infrastructure upgrades.
In Quincy, Washington, the pattern is the same. Data centers now account for about 57 percent of the town’s tax revenue. That windfall has financed a new high school, city hall, library, police station, and other upgrades, while also lowering the property tax levy rate for ordinary residents.
And in Richland Parish, Louisiana, the construction of a massive Meta data center has generated such a sharp rise in sales tax revenue that a significant portion of the town's teachers are set to receive bonuses of roughly $50,900 this year, doubling the average teacher's salary.
This comes as a majority of Americans continue to coalesce against data centers, one of the next major economic drivers of the U.S. economy, and one poised to improve lives across the country.
Critics raise concerns about the harm they might bring to local economies, extreme water use, rising utility costs, noise, and heat generation. Many of these claims are significantly overstated when applied to data centers nationwide, and rather than helping communities make informed, case-by-case decisions about whether a facility makes sense for them, the exaggerated critiques are fueling a broader movement to halt data center development across the board.
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