Although many 牢人 lived in a house loaned to them, were poor and were forced to live from hand to mouth, there were some successful 牢人 as well: For example, Monzaemon CHIKAMATSU was successful in literature, some opened a swordmanship-practicing hall and earned his living through training swordsmen, and some others worked as teachers at Terakoya (temple elementary school during the Edo period), contrubuting to education of the general public.
牢人の多くは借家住まいで貧困のその日暮らしの生活を余儀なくされていたが、中には近松門左衛門のように文芸の世界で成功した者や、町道場を開き武芸の指南で身を立てる者、寺子屋の師匠となり庶民の教育に貢献する者たちもいた。