Forget the streams of tourists, we finally have some data to confirm what we already knew about our state’s popularity.
Over the course of four months, Public Policy Polling asked respondents nationally what their impressions of each state were. And the results were good: 40% of Americans gave New York a favorable rating, placing it in the top 15 or so states.
However, New York also shows some level of unpopularity. The Empire State’s 29% disapproval rating is tied for the second highest in the country, behind only its hated rival, New Jersey, which is disfavored by 32% of Americans. And, unlike New York, only 25% of Americans approve of the Garden state, giving it the third worst spread in the country, ahead of only Illinois and California.
The top scoring state was Hawaii, which had 54% approval and mere 10% disapproval. But it would take a real grouch to disapprove of Hawaii, right? That’s not even a fair competition.
For unknown reasons, New York’s approval showed one of the greatest gender imbalances of any state in the country. Women favored New York 43% to 19% while men actually disfavored the state 36% to 39%.
Ideology also was highly correlated to Americans’ opinions of the Empire State. The majority of those who described themselves as “liberal” had a favorable opinion of New York, compared to less than 30% for conservatives.
But hey, at least we’re not New Jersey!
