New Jersey

About 25 percent of New Jersey’s population, or about 2 million people, live in poverty, an increase of over 300,000 people since the start of the Great Recession and the highest poverty level since the 1960 census. In addition to the recession, Hurricane Sandy, which struck the Atlantic coast in 2012 and was the second-costliest hurricane in U.S. history, resulted in increased poverty in New Jersey. The population segments most affected by the state’s poverty are African Americans, Hispanics, and children.

Legal Services of New Jersey has calculated the threshold of poverty at an income of $37,060 for a family of three, which is twice the federal level because of the higher cost of living in this state. Based on this threshold, one in every three ...