2025 Annual Report - Flipbook - Page 14
ALICE IN TENNESSEE
UWGN has been reporting on ALICE data since 2019.
Households that are considered ALICE are: Asset Limited,
Income-Constrained and Employed. Despite the federal
poverty level being the nationally recognized indicator of
who is considered “poor,” the measurement doesn’t account
for the current cost of basic household necessities and does
not re昀氀 ect cost-of-living differences across the country.
These are families or individuals whose income is above the
federal poverty level, but below the cost of basics included in
the household survival budget. ALICE is a data-rich analysis
that provides a more accurate representation of functional
poverty, accounting for an accurate cost to afford necessities
like housing, food, child care, health care and transportation.
This data allows us to better understand the cost of living
at county or ZIP code level, so we can target our impact to
those communities with the highest need.
Between ALICE households and households living in poverty,
an estimated 44% of households in Tennessee were
below the ALICE Threshold in 2023 (latest data available).
Tennessee ranked 37th among all states (with 昀椀 rst
representing lowest rate of hardship).
PERCENT BELOW ALICE THRESHOLD
0%
100%
HOUSEHOLDS IN TENNESSEE
(2.8M Total)
14%
Poverty
56%
Above
ALICE
Threshold
30%
ALICE
14
1.2 Million
Below ALICE
threshold
(plus or
minus 44%)
