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Toward a Thriving Future: New Jersey Dashboard
COMPANION REPORT (PDF) DOWNLOAD THE DATA EXPLORE FROM BIRTH TO ADULTHOOD
Toward a Thriving Future: New Jersey Dashboard is part of the A Portrait of New Jersey project, which includes this collection of indicators on the well-being of children and young adults by county and legislative district; a brief overview of youth disconnection by place and demographic group across the state; and a forthcoming report that looks at well-being and access to opportunity among different groups of New Jersey residents. This dashboard features indicators related to human flourishing from birth to young adulthood. High or low values on these indicators can flag threats to child development; acting on these early warning signs with tested policies and programs and targeted investments has the potential to forestall disconnection and promote positive life outcomes for all the state’s young people. These data are presented by county, an important policy-making unit in the state, and, to the degree possible, by state legislative district.
About the Teams
MEASURE OF AMERICA
Measure of America, a program of the nonpartisan Social Science Research Council, creates easy-to-use, methodologically sound tools for understanding well-being, inequality, and access to opportunity in America. Since our founding in 2006, Measure of America has produced over 60 clear, accessible reports and interactive online mapping and data visualization tools based on our original research. Our work has guided hundreds of millions of dollars of federal, state, local, and philanthropic investments. For more information, visit the Measure of America website.
NEW JERSEY OPPORTUNITY YOUTH COALITION
After decades of advocacy and providing services to opportunity youth, youth-serving community-based organizations throughout the state formalized their efforts by jointly founding the NJ OY Coalition. Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN) now serves as the backbone of the Coalition and works to convene all member organizations and partners. Since the time of the NJ OY Coalition’s formal assembly, the Coalition has supported the passage and signing of both its targeted bills - the Disconnection Prevention Bill (S3080) and the NJ YouthBuild Act (S3781) - into law. The Coalition remains committed not only to advocating in support of new legislation, but also to ensuring the Disconnection Prevention Bill and the NJ YouthBuild Act are implemented swiftly, and with fidelity. For more information, visit the New Jersey Opportunity Youth Coalition website.
Download the Data
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Credits
Suggested Citation
Powers, Alex, Kristen Lewis, Kashfia Rahman, and Chloe Hurwitz. Toward a Thriving Future: New Jersey Dashboard. New York: Measure of America, Social Science Research Council, 2026.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License.
Site designed by Alex Powers and Kate Harvey.
The health of mothers during and after pregnancy and the well-being of their newborns set the stage for thriving childhoods.
Children get the best start possible when disabilities and developmental delays are identified and addressed in early childhood and when they can build social, emotional, and cognitive skills in high-quality preschool programs. Early intervention refers to the share of children from birth to age three served by the New Jersey Early Intervention System (NJEIS). Pre-K enrollment rate refers to the share of three- and four-year-olds enrolled in pre-K.
Material resources, family stability, and exposure to adverse experiences and high levels of stress all influence the well-being of children as they grow up as well as across the life course.
Reaching important reading and math milestones in elementary and middle school sets children up for success along their academic journeys, and on-time high school graduation is the gateway to valuable opportunities for young adults.
Just as meeting key milestones like third-grade reading proficiency makes high school graduation and other positive outcomes more likely, so, too, do certain problems flag difficulties to come.
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.
Disconnected Youth Population
104,400
Total Youth Population
1,050,900
Youth Disconnection Rate
9.9%
Sources: New Jersey data: Measure of America calculations using US Census Bureau American Community Survey PUMS, 2024. County data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey Custom Tabulation, 2019–2023.