What is ALICE?
ALICE is an acronym that stands for Asset Limited, Income, Constrained, Employed. It's a metric that represents the number of households in a specific geographic area that earn more than the Federal Poverty Level but less than the basic cost of living for the county - also known as the ALICE Threshold.
ALICE may be a relative or friend. You may be ALICE. As cashiers, waiters, child care providers, and other members of our essential workforce, ALICE earns just above the Federal Poverty Level but less than what it costs to make ends meet. These struggling households are forced to make impossible choices each day.
What is the ALICE Threshold?
Derived from the Household Survival Budget, this is the average income that a household needs to afford housing, child care, 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 Vs ALICE Stability 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.
A family of four living in Escambia County's survival budget is an annual income of $68,232, or $34.12 an hour.
A family of four living in Santa Rosa County's survival budget is an annual income of $73,260, or $36.63 an hour.
The ALICE Stability Budget incorporates the higher costs for maintaining a more financially stable household over time, including a 10% savings category that can be used in an emergency, for additional education, or to buy a home.
A family of four living in Escambia County's stability budget is an annual income of $113,664, or $56.83 an hour.
A family of four living in Santa Rosa County's stability budget is an annual income of $121,320, or $60.66 an hour.
See Reports for a breakdown of the cost of living in each county and other household sizes.
County Snapshots
In the 2024 ALICE report, Escambia County showed that 45% of households are below the ALICE threshold. At the same time, Santa Rosa County showed that 37% of households are below the ALICE threshold.
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:
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Hardship varied widely across Florida, ranging from a low of 12% in eastern Miam-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).
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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.
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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.
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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.