Only About a Third of New Jerseyans Feel ‘a Lot’ of Pride in Their State, a 2026 Rutgers Poll Found
A new Rutgers poll found that New Jerseyans’ pride in their state doesn’t rise or fall in a straight line with age.
Income, hometown type and gender add more detail, and some of the gaps are smaller than you’d guess.
Here’s how New Jerseyans answered, and what separated the groups.
How the Poll Was Run
The Rutgers-Eagleton Poll comes from the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University.
A research company called SSRS ran the survey with 1,006 adults across the state from June 25 to 29, 2026.
Those adults belong to a panel whose members were recruited at random from mailing addresses.
They answered online, in English or Spanish, so households without internet weren’t reached.
The pride question gave four choices: “a lot,” “some,” “a little” or “none.”
The results were then weighted so the sample matches the state’s adult population.
Pick your answer before you read on, and you’ll see where you land.
Here’s how everyone answered first, and then how the answers shift from group to group.
How the Answers Split
Of all the adults polled, 35% picked “a lot.”
Another 35% picked “some.”
That ties it with “a lot” for the most common answer.
Together, those two answers make up 70% of adults who say they take at least some pride in living in the state, about seven in 10.
The other answers are smaller: 17% picked “a little,” and 11% picked “none,” about one in nine adults.
If you answered “a little” or “none,” you’re part of a 28% group, a little more than one in four adults.
The last 2% said they didn’t know.
Picture a room of 20 adults, and about seven would pick “a lot,” seven “some,” three “a little” and two “none.”
Age Groups
Among age groups, the “a lot” answers don’t rise or fall in a straight line.
Adults 18 to 34 and adults 65 and older both come in at 41%.
Ages 35 to 49 are at 29%, and ages 50 to 64 are at 31%.
The middle dips.
About four in 10 adults say “a lot” at either end of the age range.
In the middle, you’ll find about three in 10.
Ages 50 to 64 also have the most “none” answers, at 15% against 7% for adults 65 and older, but margins of error of 7.5 and 8.1 points leave that gap closer to a hint than a finding.
Counting “some” too, 77% of adults 65 and older say they take at least some pride, compared with 64% of adults 35 to 49.
Household Income
On “a lot,” households earning under $50,000 come in at 39%, eight points above the 31% for households earning more than $150,000.
The three lower brackets run from 35% to 39%.
It’s not a steady slide.
Counting “some” too, the top bracket looks different.
In that bracket, 62% of households say they take at least some pride, against 72% to 77% in the three lower brackets.
The top bracket also has the most “none” answers, at 16%.
That is roughly one in six adults, compared with 8% to 9% in the other three brackets, though a 7.3-point margin of error makes it a hint more than a finding.
What the Poll’s Margin of Error Means
The poll lists a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points for all 1,006 adults.
That means if you could ask every adult in the state, the share who would pick “a lot” likely falls between about 31% and 39%.
Smaller groups have larger margins of error.
Among them are 7.5 points for ages 50 to 64, 8.1 for ages 65 and older and 7.3 for households earning more than $150,000.
So when you compare two groups, read a gap of a few points as a hint, not a finding.
Where People Live
Where people live in the state does little to change the answer.
The poll sorts adults into five areas.
Those are urban, suburb, exurban, Shore and a fifth group it labels Phil/South, without spelling out which counties that covers.
On “a lot,” the areas run from 29% in urban areas to 37% in exurban and Shore areas, with suburb and Phil/South at 36%.
Urban adults also report the most “none” answers, at 15%, while Shore adults report 6%, about one in 17.
Counting “some” too, every area comes in between 69% and 72%.
The areas look alike.
Shore is the smallest group, with 100 adults and a margin of error of 13 points, so a gap of a few points there tells you little.
Psst! How much do you know about New Jersey? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Garden State IQ
Answer nine questions on New Jersey’s symbols, history, and landmarks. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
In 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that which state has authority over the filled land added to Ellis Island?
Gender and Education
Gender and education stay close to the overall 35% for "a lot" in the Rutgers survey.
Among men, 33% picked "a lot," compared with 37% of women.
Men report more "none" answers, at 14% against 9% of women, a gap that may be partly noise at this sample size.
Education shows a small spread.
Adults with a high school education or less and college graduates both come in at 37%.
Adults with some college are the lowest education group on "a lot," at 32%.
If you've done graduate work, your group comes in at 35%, right at the overall number.
9 Everyday Rules That Only Make Sense to New Jerseyans
Many visitors to New Jersey get a surprise at the gas station.
Locals often follow rules like that without a second thought.
9 Everyday Rules That Only Make Sense to New Jerseyans
9 New Jersey Myths Residents Are Sick of Correcting
Many out-of-staters show up with a few assumptions about New Jersey.
Some residents have heard those assumptions before, and they have answers ready.
