Poll: Union County Residents Seventh-Happiest in NJ

Union County residents are the seventh-happiest in New Jersey according to a poll conducted by Monmouth University.

The poll judged quality-of-life in the state's 21 counties, while also shining light on a variety of aspects of county life. A summary of the results divided the overall scores into four tiers. Union County led the second tier, which was comprised of counties that scored above the state average. 

“New Jersey has always been a tale of two, or three, states. The index shows that how you feel about the state’s quality of life depends on where you live,” Monmouth polling director Patrick Murray said in a statement. “It’s interesting to note that residents of counties where the local quality of life is particularly high also tend to view the entire state as a good place to live. In most cases, though, residents make a distinction between their own backyards and the state as a whole.”

The poll shows that Morris County residents rated their quality of life as the best. Following Morris in the top tier are Hunterdon County, Bergen County, Somerset County, Cape May County and Sussex County. Union County led the second tier, followed by Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex Counties.

Union County officials are trumpeting the ranking, showing that Union led neighboring Essex, Passaic and Hudson Counties in the poll.

Cumberland County in South Jersey ranked the lowest in quality of life, with Essex and Passaic ranking as second lowest.

The survey noted the top scores went to counties in the more suburban and wealthier regions of the state, while those at the bottom half were rural southern counties or more urban counties.

Sixty-nine percent of Union County residents rated their hometown as positive, lower than the 73-percent statewide average. County residents also gave a 69-percent rating to environmental quality, higher than the 66-percent statewide average. With the county government pushing open space, the effort did not translate in the poll with 44-percent of county residents rated open space positively compared to 46-percent statewide.

Local schools were rated positively by 64 percent of county residents, the same as statewide. Public transit options received high marks at 78 percent, lower than the state rating of 58 percent. At the same time, Union County residents gave traffic low marks at 31 percent, compared to 34 percent statewide. Union County received one of the lowest scores for affordable housing with a rating of 26 percent, compared to 31 percent statewide.

The poll noted that Union County residents are the least likely to want to leave New Jersey, with 40 percent indicating a desire to leave. The poll noted that 25 percent of county residents have indicated a desire to live another state at some point. At the same time, county residents had a high distrust of local government, with 38 percent noting they distrusted their local government.

The poll also showed that Union County has one of the highest proportions of lifelong New Jersey residents at 59 percent.

Union County officials were quick to say that the poll supported the policies of the all-Democratic board. County Freeholder Chairwoman Deborah Scanlon, in a press release issued by her office, said that the poll showed support for the freeholder board’s quality-of-life initiatives. Scanlon said these include parks, public safety and homeland security policies.

County Manager Alfred Faella, who moved to the county’s top executive spot from the parks director’s post this week, used the county’s statement to highlight the county’s cultural programs, including MusicFest.

“Over and over again, the people who attend these events tell us how much they enjoy them and ask us to keep them going,” Faella said in the statement. “In these times when more folks choose to take a ‘staycation’ or remain at home, public parks programming and recreation grow in importance.” 

To see the full results of the poll, click the PDF thumbnail above.