United For ALICE: D.C. Metro Area • Overview
We all know people who are ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed — earning more than the Federal Poverty Level, but not enough to afford the basics where they live.
ALICE households and households in poverty are forced to make tough choices, such as deciding between quality child care or paying the rent — choices that have long-term consequences not only for their families, but for all.
United For ALICE calculates the cost of household essentials for all counties in the D.C. Metropolitan Statistical Area (District of Columbia; Arlington, Clarke, Culpepper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, Stafford, and Warren Counties, and Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Manassas Park Cities in Virginia; Charles, Frederick, Montgomery, and Prince George’s Counties in Maryland; and Jefferson County in West Virginia). These costs, outlined in the Household Survival Budget, are calculated for various household sizes and compositions.
Of D.C. Metro Area’s 2,375,332 households in 2022…
- 8% earned below the Federal Poverty Level (FPL)
- 27% were ALICE, in households that earned above the FPL but not enough to afford the basics in the communities where they live
- Together, 34% of households in D.C. Metro Area were below the ALICE Threshold (poverty + ALICE divided by total households)
While the COVID-19 pandemic brought employment shifts, health struggles, and school/business closures, it also spurred temporary expansion of public assistance through pandemic relief measures (which then reverted to pre-pandemic levels in 2022). In 2019, 737,528 households in D.C. Metro Area were below the ALICE Threshold; by 2022, that number had changed to 815,598. Use the buttons below to switch between ALICE data over time by number and percentage.
Click here to read more. Courtesy of United Way of Northern New Jersey.
