CCS Releases Findings of the Fifth Annual Current Issues Survey of The North Country, Including CNY

The Center for Community Studies (CCS) at Jefferson Community College completed its annual North Country Current Issues Survey. In the study, a total of 2,562 adult residents were surveyed from the four-county region - Jefferson, Lewis, St. Lawrence, and Oswego Counties between March 31 and April 11, 2026.

The study includes, but is not limited to, questions pertaining to North Country residents’ perceptions of local issues such as childcare, the Cape Vincent to Wolfe Island Ferry, and air travel, as well as statewide issues including advanced nuclear energy technology, the smartphone ban in schools (one year later), use of artificial intelligence (AI), affordability challenges, and electric school buses. The study also examines perceptions of national and global points of interest, including ICE tactics, the war in Iran, and satisfaction with President Trump’s performance in addressing issues. The result of this sampling of 2,562 North Country residents is an approximate margin of error of ±2.2% after weighting sample survey results toward North Country population characteristics.

A summary of the study findings and the cross-tabulated results are attached and will be available for free to the public on the Center for Community Studies section of the Jefferson Community College website, www.sunyjefferson.edu/ccs.

This study was funded by the generous contributions of Jefferson Community College, the Northern New York Community Foundation, the Development Authority of the North Country, the Jefferson and Lewis County Boards of Legislature, and CarFreshner Corp.

About the Center for Community Studies 

The Center for Community Studies at Jefferson Community College is one of approximately 1,500 colleges, universities, and polling businesses in North America that are members of the American Association of Public Opinion Research (AAPOR). AAPOR is the leading public opinion professional association in the world. Further, the Center is one of approximately 100 AAPOR members that has been granted membership to the Transparency Initiative (TI) of AAPOR. As a member of TI, the Center pledges to utilize best practices in the industry in both data collection methodology and data analytics techniques. Additionally, the Center is a member of the Association of Academic Survey Research Organizations (AASRO), a professional association exclusive to colleges and universities in the United States that complete public opinion research in an academic (higher education, not profit-centered) setting. Visit www.sunyjefferson.edu/ccs for more information.