Photo: Rafaelgarcia · CC BY-SA 3.0Perth Amboy Free Public Library serves Perth Amboy’s 55,436 residents
Perth Amboy Free Public Library serves Perth Amboy’s 55,436 residents.
What stands out about Perth Amboy’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Perth Amboy’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Perth Amboy has fewer per resident than most U.S. towns. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Perth Amboy is graded on two of the three inputs. Perth Amboy’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the U.S. middle.
The survey’s stand-in for Perth Amboy’s 2024 visits carries forward a 2021 figure, so it is left out.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$77K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
71 community nonprofits are registered in Perth Amboy
1.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (56 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
1.8%
1.8% of Perth Amboy’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.2% in the typical New Jersey town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Perth Amboy’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2025
Perth Amboy Free Pub. Lib., 196 Jefferson Street, Perth Amboy.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Perth Amboy? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Perth Amboy Public Library
Perth Amboy Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Sep 24, 2025. It is significant for its architecture at the local level.
The Perth Amboy Public Library is the free public library in the city of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, located at 196 Jefferson Street. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 24, 2025, for its significance in architecture.
More about the building →A year at Perth Amboy Free Pub. Lib.
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits and print loans. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Perth Amboy resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 55,436 people it serves ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodbridge Township | Woodbridge Public Library | 3.6 | 68 | D |
| South Amboy | Dowdell Lib. of So. Amboy | 2.7 | 43 | D |
| Sayreville | Sayreville Free Public Library | 2.6 | 65 | D |
| Perth Amboy | Perth Amboy Free Pub. Lib. | — | — | D− |
| New York | Brooklyn Public Library fine-free | — | 64 | C− |
| Sewaren | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Hopelawn | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Perth Amboy Free Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate carries forward its 2021 figure, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- Not reported for 2024: print loans. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Perth Amboy
Does Perth Amboy have a public library?
Yes. Perth Amboy Free Public Library, 196 Jefferson Street, serves Perth Amboy’s 55,436 residents (the survey’s count).
How busy is Perth Amboy’s library?
It lent 0.0 items per resident in 2024 (print). Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Perth Amboy’s civic life grade?
D− Perth Amboy has fewer community nonprofits per resident, and fewer younger adults in volunteering groups, than most U.S. towns. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Perth Amboy.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.