While residents across the Garden State overwhelmingly prioritize reliable information regarding public safety, taxes, and daily civic life, more than a third say finding that information remains an uphill battle, according to a new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll.
The survey, commissioned by the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium and conducted by the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling (ECPIP) at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, reveals a stark paradox in local communities: residents deeply crave transparency and reporting on local affairs, yet feel underserved or stymied in their search for answers.
According to the poll, 77% of New Jerseyans consider reliable public safety and emergency information to be “very important,” while 74% say the same about local taxes and how public money is spent. Majorities also place high importance on updates concerning public health, municipal government decisions, infrastructure, and local elections.
However, many who go looking for community information hit a brick wall. While 43% of residents report that looking for local news in the past 12 months was easy, 36% say it was hard to find, and 19% haven’t looked at all.
Crucially, this frustration transcends political lines. Roughly equal shares of Democrats (35%), independents (38%), and Republicans (35%) reported difficulty tracking down community information. Property taxes, municipal spending, and housing or zoning developments topped the list of hardest-to-find topics.
“Many New Jerseyans are actively seeking out local information, but more than a third say what they were looking for was hard to find,” Ashley Koning, director of ECPIP at Rutgers, said. “That is not a partisan divide. Democrats, independents and Republicans report difficulty at similar rates, and property taxes and municipal spending are among the subjects cited most often.”
Residents remain sharply divided on whether the current media landscape is meeting their needs. Only 9% feel local news keeps them “very well” informed of major stories, though half (50%) feel “somewhat well” informed. Meanwhile, 34% say local news keeps them “not very well” or “not well at all” informed.
When asked about the sheer volume of reporting, 42% believe there aren’t enough local news sources in their area, while 40% feel there is just the right amount. Demand for more coverage is particularly high among older residents and Democrats, with half of residents aged 65 and older saying their local areas lack sufficient news options.
The survey also sheds light on how residents interact with local government, revealing that far more people read about public meetings than actually attend them.
In the past year, 46% of New Jerseyans read a news report about a public meeting, compared to just 18% who attended or watched a municipal, county, or school board meeting in person or online. Engagement with news coverage also scaled with income and age; residents earning $150,000 or more and those aged 65 and older were significantly more likely to read meeting coverage than lower-income or younger peers.
Despite disconnects in access, the data suggests that better reporting directly fuels civic participation. Six in ten residents (60%) say they would be either “much more” or “somewhat more” likely to take part in local government if information about public meetings and decisions were easier to find and understand.
“This Rutgers-Eagleton Poll shows us clearly that New Jerseyans place a high value on reliable information about their own communities,” Lisa Sahulka, Executive Director of the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium, said. Residents want reporting that helps them understand decisions affecting their schools, neighborhoods and daily lives. Investing in local journalism means giving people the information they need to participate in and strengthen their democracy.”
Methodology: The findings are based on a statewide poll of 1,004 adults surveyed via the probability-based Rutgers-Eagleton/SSRS Garden State Panel between September 24 and September 27, 2026. The full sample carries a margin of error of +/- 4.1 percentage points.
