Fordlands fell within the boundaries of two data zones - the most deprived and the fifth-most deprived in New Zealand.
Rotorua district councillor Merepeka Raukawa-Tait said she wasn't surprised Fordlands had been singled out for closer scrutiny.
"Little or no targets set by government agencies in particular, to reduce disparity indicates a game change is required.
"Assisting families to live better on a range of benefits is not the answer to deprivation."
Not all deprived families lived in Fordlands and not all families in Fordlands were deprived, Ms Raukawa-Tait said.
Many were working and taking good care of their families.
The council was focused on job creation, as reflected in the mayor's Taskforce on Jobs, which focused on getting young people into training or jobs as soon as they leave school.
Local social service providers upping their game meant families now had higher expectations for those being paid to help them, which created an upward cycle in the quality of those services, Ms Raukawa-Tait said.
Despite the figures, born and bred locals told the Rotorua Daily Post they loved their suburb, where everyone knew everyone and neighbours were whanau.
Hone Morris is 17 with five years of community service under his belt already.
"In Fordlands it's all about whanau," he said.
After years of volunteering in the Fordlands community, Morris now works at the local Community Service to run Free Parking, a programme which provides food to local families struggling to make ends meet.
He was surprised to hear his neighbourhood was the most deprived in the country.
"I would have thought we'd be one of the worst in Rotorua. My reaction is we need more help."
Morris knew the neighbourhood had its problems, like the houses crammed to bursting with as many as seven families sharing one three-bedroom house.
"It's really hard for whanau to get state houses here," he said.
"It's an issue we need to sort out. We have a lot of run down houses."
Landlords with unlivable investment properties needed to clean the houses up so families could move in, Morris said.
The community may be struggling, but its people were fighting back.
"Things are getting better," Morris said.
The past five years had seen a huge focus on getting rangitahi through the education system and into work - and keeping them away from drug and alcohol abuse.
Providing food for those going without was also a regular fixture of the community centre's work.
"We've worked tirelessly to change the negative image about Fordlands. We had a really bad gang problem but now we work with the gangs to better our community."
Harmony Silva, 17, is another Fordlands resident working with the community centre.
She helps mentor teenagers in the classroom and helps younger kids with their reading.
"I've lived in Fordlands all my life, I've seen the ins the outs, the goods the bads. People are trying to make our suburb a good place again."
Life in the neighbourhood was tough, in part because of negative attitudes people in the wider community had about the area.
"It's been hard, living in Fordlands where everybody - people don't look at us, they get down on us."
The community centre's motto, "all for one and one for all", summed up why Silva wanted to be part of its mission.
"We stick together as a whanau to make our suburb Fordlands a better place for everyone. I'm only 17 but what else can we do.
"We have to do something with our lives or we're going to go down the wrong path."
Piki Rapana, 65, was born in Fordlands and has lived here all her life.
"Everyone looks after each other here. Everybody's related. It's lovely round here," she said.
"You've just got to watch out for the young ones and their blinking synthetics."
Another resident, who asked the Daily Post not to name him, moved to the community four months ago from Auckland.
He knew everyone in the area and thought overall people behaved really well.
Things could sometimes get a bit rough after dark, but the man said he never felt unsafe.
