United Way of Northern NJ
ALICE at Work
National ALICE Summit

Key Terms

DEFINITIONS

ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — households with income above the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) but less than the basic cost of living in their county

ALICE Household Survival Budget: Reflects the minimum costs of household necessities (housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and technology) plus taxes, adjusted for all U.S. counties and various household compositions

ALICE Threshold: Derived from the Household Survival Budget, the minimum average income that a household needs to afford basic costs, calculated for all U.S. counties

Below ALICE Threshold: Includes households in poverty and ALICE households combined

United For ALICE Wage Tool

United For ALICE Wage Tool

Exploring the Impact of Wage Levels and Occupations on ALICE

Across the U.S., over 40% of households are struggling to make ends meet. This includes households with income below the Federal Poverty Level, and households that are ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed). With income above the FPL, ALICE households earn too much to qualify as “poor” but are still unable to cover basic household expenses.

While cost of living varies considerably from one state, region, and county to another, a household’s ability to afford basic expenses also depends on how much they have an opportunity to earn. This tool provides insight into how different wage levels impact an ALICE household’s ability to afford a bare-bones budget.

The ALICE Household Survival Budget estimates the minimum cost of household necessities (housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, and technology) plus taxes, and a contingency fund (miscellaneous) equal to 10% of the budget. The ALICE Wage Tool identifies the counties where a certain hourly wage can support the Household Survival Budget for a selected household type. For example, when selecting a wage of $15 per hour and a family of two (one working adult, one school-age child), the map shows that $15 cannot support this family’s Household Survival Budget in any U.S. county.  At $20 per hour, the map shows this wage can support this households’ basic costs in 35% of U.S. counties.

ALICE Wage Tool, 2024

Info

Use the drop-down menu to select a state ("all" includes all U.S. counties), the slider or arrows to select an hourly wage, and the drop-down menu to select a household type.

Hover over the map to see the wage needed to support the Household Survival Budget for the selected household type. The map is also colored to show in which counties the selected wage can (light color) and can't (dark color) support the basic budget.

Below the map is the percentage of counties in which the selected wage is enough/not enough to cover the Household Survival Budget for the selected household type.

Click the gray bar at the bottom of the map to see the County List, which shows if the selected wage covers the Household Survival Budget (Yes/No) for each county in the selected geography. To return to the map view, click "Back to Overview."