New Jersey residents are reporting increasing difficulty affording many of their everyday necessities, with large majorities expressing negative views of both the state and national economies, according to a new Rutgers-Eagleton Poll.

The findings come as New Jersey approaches a decade of Democratic leadership in Trenton, with Democrats having controlled the governor’s office since 2018 and maintained control of both houses of the Legislature for even longer.

The poll found that more than three-quarters of New Jersey residents rate the state economy negatively, with 35% describing it as “poor” and another 42% calling it “only fair.” Just 18% rate the state economy as “good,” while 1% say it is “excellent.”

The poll also found that the financial pressure being reported by residents has intensified since March, particularly among those facing the highest costs.

Among residents for whom the expenses apply, nearly three-quarters said education costs, including student loans, are difficult to afford. 45% called those costs “very difficult,” a 10-point increase from March, while 29% called them “somewhat difficult.”

Childcare costs were similarly burdensome, with 46% calling them very difficult and another 27% somewhat difficult to afford.

About two-thirds of residents said housing costs and gasoline and transportation costs are difficult to afford. 32% called housing costs very difficult and 33% somewhat difficult. For gasoline and transportation, 34% said very difficult and 32% somewhat difficult.

Healthcare, utility bills and groceries were also major sources of financial strain.

About 63% said healthcare and medical costs were difficult to afford, including 31% who described them as very difficult. 61% reported difficulty affording utility bills, while the same amount said the same about groceries and food.

The poll found that the most notable change since March has been an increase in the intensity of the financial difficulties being reported.

“In most categories the overall numbers moved only slightly, if at all. The real movement is underneath them: in every single category we track, fewer residents call these costs ‘somewhat difficult’ and more call them ‘very difficult.’ Difficulty may be spreading to some extent, but more than that, it is deepening,” Ashley Koning, an assistant research professor and director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, said.

Interestingly, political affiliation played a much larger role in residents’ views of the national economy than their views of New Jersey’s economy.

Ninety-one percent of Democrats and 85% of independents rated the national economy negatively, compared with 55% of Republicans. However, the poll found no statistically significant partisan difference in how residents rated the New Jersey economy.

The poll surveyed 1,004 New Jersey adults from September 24 through 27 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.