Building Brighter Futures in New Jersey: Data Preview

RELEASED March 30, 2026

This Data Preview provides an overview of the state of youth disconnection in New Jersey. Stay tuned for the full Building Brighter Futures in New Jersey report, coming later this year!

Disconnected youth, also referred to as opportunity youth, are young people between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither working nor in school. A community’s youth disconnection rate is a strong indicator of its resources and a telling gauge of its residents’ well-being and access to opportunity.

In 2024, the national youth disconnection rate was 10.7 percent; this rate was calculated using the most recent American Community Survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which was released this January. This rate is slightly higher than the 2023 rate of 10.6 percent and tied with the pre–COVID-19 rate in 2019 (10.7 percent). This rate represents 4,336,100 disconnected teens and young adults across the United States.

Of these young people who are out of school and out of work, 104,400 call New Jersey home. The youth disconnection rate in New Jersey rose slightly from 2023 to 2024—from 9.4 percent to 9.9 percent—representing 9,400 additional young people not connected to opportunity.