WHO IS ALICE?
You know ALICE. You see ALICE every day. They are the childcare workers at your daycare, the cashiers at your supermarket, your child’s teachers, office clerks, caregivers, and other essential workers. They are part of every community and every neighborhood—yet many struggle to make ends meet.
WHAT ALICE MEANS
ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. ALICE households earn more than the Federal Poverty Level but less than what it truly costs to afford basic necessities in their county—also known as the ALICE Threshold.
ALICE households span all races, ages, ethnicities, and abilities, though households of color are disproportionately affected. Many work one or more jobs, yet their wages have not kept pace with the rising cost of housing, food, health care, childcare, and transportation. Family caregiving responsibilities can make it even harder to find stable, adequate work.
ONE EMERGENCY AWAY
ALICE is hardworking, yet often just one emergency away from financial ruin. These households live paycheck to paycheck, forced to make impossible choices—paying rent or buying groceries, seeking medical care or affording childcare, paying utility bills or putting gas in the car.
What is the ALICE Threshold?
Derived from the Household Survival Budget, this is the average income that a household needs to afford housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care, and a smartphone plan, plus taxes. It is calculated for various household types for every U.S. state and county.
ALICE Household Survival Budget
The ALICE Household Survival Budget reflects the minimum cost to live and work in the current economy. This budget is the basis for determining whether households are above or below the ALICE Threshold by county.
According to the latest statistics from 2023, a family of four living in Escambia County's survival budget is an annual income of $84,396, or $42.20 an hour.
A family of four living in Santa Rosa County's survival budget is an annual income of $88,212 or $41.11 an hour.
See Reports for a breakdown of the cost of living in each county and other household sizes.
County Snapshots
In the 2023 ALICE report, Escambia County showed that 28% of households are within the ALICE threshold and 12% are living within the Federal Poverty Level. At the same time, Santa Rosa County showed that 27% of households are within the ALICE threshold and 8% are living within the Federal Poverty Level.
Click the links below to see the snapshots for each county.
Escambia County ALICE Snapshot
Santa Rosa County ALICE Snapshot
Escambia and Santa Rosa counties ALICE Snapshots together.
ALICE Report
You can browse the ALICE Report online at United For ALICE. Here you will find more details and be able to look at numbers for more concentrated areas, like by zip code.
ALICE IN Focus: Children for the State of Florida
Because ALICE households often earn too much to qualify for public assistance, the data finds that in 2022, more than 1.4 million children in struggling families didn’t access the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
ALICE IN Focus: Children also reveals that in 2022...
- Hardship varied widely across Florida, ranging from a low of 12% in eastern Miami-Dade County including Coral Gables, Pinecrest Village, and Kendall (South) to a high of 90% in northeastern Miami-Dade County (Opa-Locka, West Little River, Brownsville).
- Escambia and Santa Rosa counties falling between 42% (Santa Rosa) to 63% (Northern Escambia).
- Racial disparities persisted, with 75% of Black and 62% of Hispanic children in Florida living in households below the ALICE Threshold, compared with 41% of white children. Having two working parents didn’t guarantee financial stability.
- Among all Florida households with two working adults, 40% of children were still growing up in hardship. Just over 478,000 children in households earning below the ALICE Threshold had no high-speed internet access at home.
Read more at UnitedForALICE.org/Focus-Children.
ALICE in Focus Children Snapshot
Voices of ALICE
Are you ALICE, struggling to make ends meet yet often earning too much to qualify for assistance? If so, we invite you to share your story to help drive meaningful change for ALICE workers and families. Record a voice message at ALICEvoices.org.