The objective of this article is to present the importance of the Index of Living Conditions (ILC) as an indicator that allows the representation of the changes perceived in and by the target public of the actions that, since 2003, have been settled in Açu-Mossoró and Sertão do Apodi, in Rio Grande do Norte. As a methodological process, it was developed by the Department of Territorial Development (SDT) of the Brazilian Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA) and consists of the definition of LCIs, where the central focus is capturing individuals' perceptions about their living conditions. The results indicate that there is no direct correspondence between factors, characteristics and effects of development in the sense that the existence of assets and capitals along with individual liberties translates into significant changes in living conditions, although the perception about living conditions is something that varies substantially between individuals or families.