麻豆视频 Poll: Most New Jerseyans Think Beach Tag Prices Too High
Galloway, N.J. 鈥 Most New Jerseyans think beaches should be free, according to a poll released today by the .
Half of residents think the cost of beach tags to access their nearest beach in New Jersey is too high, but about 1 in 5 residents (21%) said the price is reasonable. Only 3% said beach tag prices are too low.
As for their opinion on beach tags in general, a majority (65%) think beaches are a public resource, and that they should be free to New Jersey residents, while 30% think beachgoers should pay for access to generate revenue for essential services.
The opinion of residents in the Jersey Shore region, defined as those in Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth and Ocean counties, differed from those in other parts of the state.
A higher rate of residents in shore counties (40%) said beachgoers should pay to access the beach compared to those in non-shore counties (27%).
鈥淩esidents in shore counties likely see beach tags as a way to manage crowds and reduce their local tax burden by bringing in other revenue to pay for upkeep, so it makes sense that they鈥檙e more amenable to charging than inland New Jerseyans,鈥 said Alyssa Maurice, head of research at the Hughes Center. 鈥淚t鈥檚 notable though that a majority in the shore region still think beaches should be free.鈥
Residents in central New Jersey, whose nearest beaches are in Ocean or Monmouth counties where a season badge can exceed $100, were more likely to say the cost of beach tags is too expensive (58%) compared to those in southern New Jersey (46%), where season badges for many nearby shore points are around $30.
Residents in shore counties likely see beach tags as a way to manage crowds and reduce their local tax burden by bringing in other revenue to pay for upkeep, so it makes sense that they鈥檙e more amenable to charging than inland New Jerseyans.鈥
Alyssa Maurice, head of research at the Hughes Center
Half of New Jersey residents plan to travel out of state this summer and slightly more (53%) plan to visit destinations along the Jersey Shore this season. More than one-third said they will not be travelling out of state (38%) or visiting the Jersey Shore (37%), while about 10% were not sure of their plans for the summer.
A slim majority of residents (53%) said the economy or costs impacted their decisions about traveling this season, while 43% said that did not play a role in their decision making. As many as 39% of residents said concerns about air travel impacted their plans, while 57% said that was not a factor.
In terms of their current financial situation, a plurality of 49% of residents said their financial standing is about the same as it was this time last year, while 29% said it is worse, and 19% said it is better.
This is reflected in residents鈥 budgeting for recreational activities at the shore. Compared to their spending last summer, a plurality (47%) said they expect to spend about the same amount of money on shore attractions this year, while more than one-fourth (28%) said they plan to spend less and 11% said they plan to spend more than they did last year.
Nearly half (49%) of residents agreed that there are adequate affordable recreational activities in their community. Just over one-third (35%) of residents disagreed with that statement and nearly the same rate (32%) said they have had to forgo recreational plans this summer due to the cost. However, 62% said they have not had to decline any plans.
The poll of 606 New Jersey residents was conducted June 18-25 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.9 percentage points.
You can find the full results here.
Methodology
The poll of New Jersey residents was sponsored and conducted by the 麻豆视频 Polling Institute of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at 麻豆视频. Data collection took place from June 18-25, 2025. A total of 606 New Jersey voters were interviewed. Responses were recorded via telephone or online in English. Overall, 94% of interviews were conducted on cell phones and 6% on landline phones. In terms of mode, 66% were reached via dialing with the survey administered by a live interviewer and 34% were reached via text-to-web. The live calls were conducted by Opinion Services. The text messages were sent by 麻豆视频 Polling Institute staff from the university鈥檚 Galloway campus and included a single-use link to take the survey online. All respondents passed various quality control checks to evaluate the quality of the data collected online.
Both cell and landline samples consisted of random digit dialing (RDD) sample from MSG. Within-household selection is done by asking for the youngest adult. Adults without a telephone are excluded from the sample. The data was weighted to balance the sample demographics using iterative proportional fitting, also known as raking or random iterative method (RIM) weighting. Weights were based on U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 data for the adult population in New Jersey on variables of age, race, education level, and sex. The poll's margin of error is +/- 3.9 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. The margin of sampling error is higher for subsets. Sampling error does not account for other potential sources of bias in polls such as measurement error or non-response.
About the Hughes Center
The William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at 麻豆视频 serves as a catalyst for research, analysis and innovative policy solutions on the economic, social and cultural issues facing New Jersey, and promotes civic life through engagement, education, and research. The nonpartisan center is named for the late William J. Hughes, whose distinguished career includes service in the U.S. House of Representatives, Ambassador to Panama, and as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at 麻豆视频. The Hughes Public Policy Center can be found on , and can be followed on , , and .
