Lewis County Survey Results

For the past 9 years, The Center for Community Studies at Jefferson Community College has taken a snap shot of Lewis County through the eyes of it’s residents. For the next few days, we will feature various topics covered in the survey and what the people of the Lewis County think. A total of 396 Lewis County Residents were surveyed. Here’s a sample of what they said:

Most Lewis County adult residents continue to view the overall quality of life in the region as very positive, 77% of the surveyed residents in 2015 report that the overall quality of life in the area is “Excellent or Good” (was 75% in 2014 and 71% in 2013), while only 2% currently believe the overall quality of life in the area is “Poor” (lowest rate of “Poor” ever found in nine years of surveying).

“Availability of Good Jobs” continues to clearly be the most negatively-perceived community characteristic from the 21 indicators measured among adult residents of Lewis County, with the most common response being “Poor” (48%). There was a significant shift from “Fair” to “Poor” between the 2012-2014 surveys, and this shift has reversed between 2014-2015. The current rate of 15% indicating “Excellent or Good” has remained very stable for nine years.

Although Lewis County residents are less than satisfied with the “Overall State of the Local Economy”, this level of dissatisfaction has continued to reduce in 2015. Very significant improvement has been found between 2013-2015, with the “Excellent or Good” rate of 31% now being the second highest ever found in 9 years of study (was only 19% in 2013, and is currently the highest found since the 2007 rate of 35%), and a significant shift from “Fair” to “Excellent or Good” occurred in the past year.

Shopping Opportunities Levels of satisfaction with “Shopping Opportunities” in the county have remained quite consistent and less than positive throughout the nine years of study. The 2015 results of 34% rating as “Excellent or Good” and 66% rating as “Fair or Poor” is similar to past results. (Table 26) 7. Cost of Energy Residents of Lewis County continue to be less than happy with the “Cost of Energy”, however, the level of discontent