Say What You Will About New Jersey, but Most Residents Are Proud to Live Here

Differences emerge by partisanship and income, but majorities across the board feel a sense of pride

Call it Jersey pride. Seven in 10 New Jerseyans (70%) say they take at least "some" pride in calling the Garden State home, according to the latest Rutgers-Eagleton Poll.

Thirty-five percent take "a lot" of pride in living in New Jersey, 35% "some," 17% "a little" and 11% say they take no pride in living in the state.

That pride runs deep, but not evenly. The share taking "a lot" of pride ranges from a high of 46% among Democrats to a low of 28% among Republicans, and it declines among the highest earners even as majorities everywhere still say they feel it to some degree. Whatever residents make of the traffic, the taxes and the perpetual out-of-state jokes, most aren't trading in their exit numbers anytime soon.

"New Jersey has a bit of a reputation and is often the butt of jokes throughout the rest of the country, but residents don't let that ruin the love they have for the Garden State," said Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and lifelong Jersey girl. "The vast majority of residents, across party lines, income brackets and every corner of the state, still say they are proud to live here. We may love to complain about our state, but there is a reason 'We're from Jersey, baby' became a rallying cry. Jersey pride is real."

Democrats are more likely to indicate they take "a lot" of or "some" pride in living in the state (79%) compared with independents (67%) and Republicans (63%), though a majority of all three groups feel it to some degree.

Residents earning more than $150,000 in annual household income are less likely than their less affluent counterparts to take at least "some" pride in living in New Jersey (62%), though, again, majorities across income brackets feel prideful.

Results are from a statewide poll of 1,006 adults contacted through the probability-based Rutgers-Eagleton/SSRS Garden State Panel from June 25 to 29. The full sample has a margin of error of +/- 4.1 percentage points.