July 03, 2015
Mike Hintsa/Shelby/Creative Commons
New Jersey was ranked the least popular state according to a recent poll.
Maybe there's a reason you only have to pay bridge tolls to get out of New Jersey.
According to a recent survey on poll site YouGov.com, Jersey was voted as the least liked of the 50 states with 40 percent of people having an unfavorable opinion of the state compared to just 30 percent who have a favorable one.
The data was compiled as part of the site's "State of the States" survey ahead of Saturday's holiday. Hawaii was voted the most popular -- no surprise there -- while Pennsylvania finished with the 10th highest rating (+31). It also ranked the highest among the 10 most populous states.
But the real story here is about our neighbors across the Delaware. New Jersey was the only state with a net negative score (-10). Even Alabama, which finished behind (ahead?) of the Garden State, had an overall positive rating of plus-eight (39 percent favorable, 31 percent unfavorable).
YouGov tried to figure out why Jersey ranked so low using profile data on the people that live there, and here's what they came up with:
When it comes to how people in New Jersey live their lives, a few things are particularly true of New Jerseyans compared to all Americans as a whole. People in New Jersey are unusually likely to take a hardnosed attitude towards life. They are unusually likely to say that they 'seek out challenging situations' and that they are willing to sacrifice their leisure time in order to get ahead in their career. Life isn't all challenge and work in New Jersey, however, as they're also unusually likely compared to Americans in the rest of the country to say that they enjoying going out drinking in bars. Family life in New Jersey may take a backseat to friendship, however, as they're particularly likely to say that their friends are 'more important' to them than their family. [yougov.com]
Jokes aside, I don't think Jersey deserved to be last. It just a has an image problem.
Even the state's greatest attraction, its beaches, have been ruined -- or at least the national opinion of them -- by a few clowns on MTV.
