Majority of Garden Staters want to leave NJ — despite enjoying quality of life, poll finds
Garden State residents are heading for the exits.
A record 59% of New Jersey residents said they want to leave their state at some point, a Monmouth University poll released Monday finds.
That’s six to ten percentage points higher than in prior polls when Jersey residents were asked the same question from 2007 to 2014 by the Monmouth U. Polling Institute.
Unlike prior surveys, a higher percentage of Republicans expressed a desire to flee.
The state’s high property tax burden remains the top reason residents cite for their intention to get out of New Jersey. Six in ten residents said taxes and the high cost of living combined were the driving factors.
Or as the singer Billy Joel put it in his hit song “Movin’ Out”: “Who needs a house out in Hackensack? Is that what you get for your money?”
The results show that 69% of Republicans want to move compared to 47% of Democrats.
In 2014, there was no partisan difference — 48% of Democrats talked about leaving versus 46% of Republicans.
New Jersey led the nation last year with 70 percent of the people involved in moves fleeing the Garden State, compared to just 30 percent who migrated in, according to United Van Lines’ National Movers Study. Neighboring New York ranked third worst, with 63 percent of movers headed for the exits and 37 percent settling in.
Still, the desire to depart conflicted with other findings in the poll that found residents gave the Garden State high marks for quality of life — plus 27 points more positively than negatively.
For example, 64% of respondents deemed Jersey an excellent/good place to live.
“It’s a bit of a head-scratcher. Positive ratings of New Jersey as a place to live have ticked up a bit. But so has the sense that people want to get out of here someday,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth U. Polling Institute.
“One possible explanation is that residents appreciate the benefits that New Jersey has to offer, but the cost of living does not make it sustainable in the long run,” said Murray.
Regardless of whether they want to leave, 36% of residents say it is very likely they will move out at some point — a big jump from 26% who said the same in 2014 and 28% in 2007.
A warning flag for Jersey’s future is that a growing percentage of younger adults plan to leave.
The results reveal that 42% of residents under the age of 35 plan to move out, up 17 points from 2014.
Residents between the ages of 35 and 54 also are looking for greener pastures outside the Garden State, known for growing blueberries and tomatoes among other crops.
By comparison, only 26% of residents over 55 plan to leave, up 8 points.
The Monmouth University Poll queried 802 residents from March 31 to April 4. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
