New Jerseyans report that lack of financial knowledge carries a high cost, according to the NFEC’s most recent survey. Participants across the state responded to the single question: “During the past year, about how much money do you think you lost because you lacked knowledge about personal finances?” The results are shown below. Since 2017, the NFEC has conducted this annual survey, consistently revealing that the average individual cost of financial illiteracy approaches or exceeds $1,000 per person – with estimated national losses reaching into the hundreds of billions of dollars each year, and losses in the hundreds of millions across New Jersey.

Financial vulnerability among New Jersey citizens is illustrated through two primary measures: food insecurity and housing insecurity. According to the nonprofit Feeding America, hunger in New Jersey represents a significant problem, with nearly 1.09 million people – 271,650 of whom are children – facing food insecurity. People living in every county and congressional district in the state are experiencing the hunger problem. Closing the financial gap to meet these families’ food needs would require almost $773 million per year.

Regarding housing insecurity, the news from New Jersey is slightly less negative, with the World Population Review indicating that 14% of the state population (12,762 individuals) was unsheltered in 2024 – a decline of 26.3% from the previous year. “Unsheltered” refers to people who live in temporary shelters or transitional housing or sleep in a place not intended for habitation (such as an abandoned building).