CCS Releases Annual Issues Survey Findings, Including Central New York

The Center for Community Studies (CCS) at Jefferson Community College completed its annual North Country Current Issues Survey. In the study, a total of 1,902 adult residents were surveyed from the four-county region including Jefferson, Lewis, Oswego, and St. Lawrence Counties between April 8 through April 17, 2025.

The study includes, but is not limited to, questions pertaining to North Country residents’ perceptions of the direction that things are heading in the nation and in New York State, local economy questions including the impact on tourism and tariffs, local blighted and vacant properties, attitudes about local low-income housing expansion and support, opinions about local healthcare, local and national news access, support versus opposition to many recent state and federal government actions and proposals, and favorability ratings of current state and federal leadership. The result of this sampling of 1,902 North Country residents is an approximate margin of error of ±2.5% after weighting sample survey results toward North Country population characteristics.

A summary of the study findings and the cross-tabulated results are available online for free to the public.

The sponsors of these annual surveys of the North Country communities are Jefferson Community College, Car-Freshner Corporation, the Northern New York Community Foundation, the Development Authority of the North Country, and the Jefferson and Lewis County Boards of Legislature who all provide financial support to assist in the funding of these research projects as a service to our local communities.