This article examines the regional and household characteristics of poverty in rural Java to assess the efficacy of targeted anti-poverty programmes. Analysis of household data shows important geographic and spatial features to rural poverty in Java. However, it also highlights the limitations of geographic targeting; 43 per cent of remaining poor in rural Java live in non-poor regions. The article suggests that an effective anti?poverty strategy for rural Java would focus on continued broad-based growth, judicious use of geographic targeting, and special efforts to enhance the poor's access to productive assets, regardless of where they live.