New ALICE Data Shows Rising Cost of Basics Historically Outpaces Inflation
Research zeroes in on households living paycheck to paycheck, priced out of survival
New data from United For ALICE shows that the cost of household necessities across the U.S. rose faster than inflation for more than 15 years, leaving many households vulnerable to the growing affordability crisis.
The latest State of ALICE report for the United States includes data from the ALICE Essentials Index, which tracks the rising costs of only six basics families need to live and work: housing, child care, food, transportation, health care and technology. Between 2007 and 2024, the nationwide ALICE Essentials Index increased 70%, compared with 52% for the broader Consumer Price Index (CPI), which reports inflation across more than 200 categories of goods and services.
The report highlights the growing financial strains on the demographic known as ALICE® (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed). With income above the Federal Poverty Level but unable to afford basic expenses, 38 million U.S. households were ALICE in 2024. When combined with households in poverty, 41.3% of all households in the country fell below the ALICE Threshold of Financial Survival.
“Behind these numbers are families making impossible choices every day — between groceries and utilities, child care and rent,” said United For ALICE President Kiran Handa Gaudioso. “The ALICE data fuels our movement with partners across the country, creating opportunity and building stronger paths to stability.”
The crux of the struggle for ALICE families is the gap between wages and expenses. For example, in 2024, a family with one adult and one school-age child in Calhoun County, Michigan — a middle-income county — needed $48,816 just to cover the essentials. That’s more than twice the Federal Poverty Level of $20,440. Yet even with the adult working full time as a child care worker, this family’s income still fell short of the cost of basics by $18,766.
The State of ALICE in the United States also reveals that:
- While all the essentials in the Household Survival Budget have become significantly more expensive over time, the drivers are the two largest components: housing and food. From 2007 to 2024, costs for food at home climbed 38%, while rental housing costs nearly doubled, rising a staggering 99%.
- In 2024, 71% of all renter households below the ALICE Threshold were rent burdened, which means at least 30% of their income went to rent and utilities.
- ALICE households were found in every major industry statewide, with the highest levels of hardship in food service and accommodation (44%) and retail trade (33%) in 2024.
- With the aging of the Baby Boomer generation, households headed by people age 65 and over were the fastest-growing age group in the U.S. (increasing 50% between 2010 and 2024). They were also the age group with the most substantial increase in the number of struggling households: By 2024, 50% of all 65+ households in the U.S. were below the ALICE Threshold.
- Poverty rates remained relatively flat from 2010 to 2024, while the number of ALICE households steadily increased.
“The ALICE research shows that the affordability crisis is not new," said Stephanie Hoopes, Ph.D., National Director at United For ALICE. “Already stretched thin, ALICE families have no cushion for rising gas or utility costs — forcing tough tradeoffs with other necessities. That’s the insight policymakers and community leaders need to build a stronger future for ALICE and all.”
More state and local data is available through the interactive dashboards on UnitedForALICE.org.
