Having a safe place to call home is crucial for families’ well-being, providing a foundation for all of life’s basic activities and routines. Yet, thousands of New Jersey families struggle to afford stable housing every day. Housing costs in the state are significantly higher than the national average, keeping the threat of eviction, foreclosure, and homelessness omnipresent.

Accordingly, this page shows poverty at two different levels:

• TPL or the True Poverty Level — a more realistic indicator of people actually experiencing deprivation in New Jersey.    
• FPL or the Federal Poverty Level.