You know ALICE, but you may not realize how much ALICE tells us about the economic stability of our region. ALICE® stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. These are households that earn above the Federal Poverty Level, but do not earn enough to keep up with the cost of living in their communities.
In the nine-county metro, 35% of people fall below the ALICE threshold. That statistic is striking, but what matters most are the realities behind it. Community members and our nonprofit partners have been telling us this for years. An increasing number of working families are finding it difficult to achieve financial stability, even when they are working hard and making careful financial decisions.
ALICE individuals are a part of our daily lives. They are our early childhood educators, the friendly staff at our local grocery store, the healthcare workers who care for us, and too many of our neighbors and loved ones who are working, contributing to our communities and making difficult financial decisions with little room for error.
At Greater Twin Cities United Way, the ALICE data helps us better understand the economic pressures facing our region and informs how we invest in nonprofit partners supporting families. Together, we’re working to realize a future where everyone has what they need not only to be stable, but to thrive.
When we talk about financial stability, we're talking about more than making it through the month. Stability means being able to consistently:
One theme surfaces repeatedly in conversations with our nonprofit partners and through calls to our 211 resource helpline: the challenge is not due to a lack of effort. Families are working, making difficult financial decisions and doing their best to provide for their households, yet many still struggle to achieve financial stability.
For ALICE households, successes, like getting a higher paying job, do not always equate to more stability. The ALICE data challenges the assumption that being employed and working hard is enough to create financial security.
As my colleague Daisuke Kawachi, a program officer focused on economic opportunity, puts it: "ALICE data shows us that you can do all the right things and still be unable to meet your basic needs."
Even when people gain new skills, earn promotions or move into higher-paying jobs, financial stability may remain out of reach. Debt accumulated during previous hardships, rising costs and years without meaningful savings often create a long road toward recovery.
My colleague Kelli Nelson, who works closely with partners providing housing stability and food security, often reminds us that "You cannot financially savvy your way out of not being able to afford your basic needs."
That insight is important because it shifts the conversation away from individual choices and toward financial realities. ALICE families are remarkably resourceful. They budget carefully, seek support when necessary and stretch every dollar as far as possible. Yet resourcefulness alone cannot overcome a gap between wages and the cost of living.
Organizations working with families often help parents navigate childcare costs, maintain access to critical benefits and make difficult financial decisions. Increasingly, they are hearing from families who feel exhausted by the constant effort required to stay afloat.
As my colleague, Steven Walvig, a program officer focused on education, shared, "A lot of parents feel like they're failing. There's a real feeling that 'We're doing the right things, but here we are again,' with the stress of having to figure out how they're going to cover their basic needs."
What families often discover through our partner organizations is that they are not alone. Their struggles are not isolated or personal failures. They reflect broader economic pressures affecting thousands of working households across our region.
The same financial pressures affecting ALICE households are also affecting the nonprofit organizations that support them. Alongside rising costs, public resources face new constraints and uncertainty around programs such as food assistance, healthcare and childcare. Across sectors, organizations and families are being asked to respond to growing community needs with increasingly limited resources.
These challenges reinforce the importance of Greater Twin Cities United Way's flexible funding and a deeply engaged partnership approach. By providing responsive resources, we help nonprofits adapt quickly and support families as circumstances change.
And because we unite business, nonprofit, government and individual partnerships, we can create solutions together that would be impossible in isolation. These insights reinforce what we already know through decades of partnership: People are resilient, communities are resourceful, and nonprofit organizations play a critical role in helping families weather challenges and build toward greater stability. Together, we are working to help families navigate immediate financial constraints while building pathways to greater economic prosperity.
The value of the ALICE framework is not simply that it helps us identify who is struggling. It helps us better understand the economic conditions shaping our region. ALICE shows us that financial hardship is an increasingly common reality for our community, not something that only impacts people living below the poverty line.
By investing in nonprofit partners, advocating for policies that support working families and responding to emerging community needs, we can help build a region where financial stability is within reach for everyone.
Join us as we work for ALICE households toward a community where all thrive:
