JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Nearly half of Floridians are struggling to make ends meet, according to a new report by United Way.
The State of ALICE in Florida: 2025 Update on Financial Hardship report, which analyzed the latest available data from 2023, found that an estimated 47% of households in Florida were below the ALICE Threshold in 2023. The ALICE Threshold represents the minimum income level necessary for survival for a household.
ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. These households earn above the federal poverty level (FPL), but not enough to afford basic expenses in the counties where they live.
According to the report, in 2023, of Florida’s 8.9 million households, 13% (1,129,685) were below the FPL, and another 34% (3,033,439) were ALICE. Those two groups combined make up 47% of people who faced financial instability.
The rate placed Florida 48th among all states and the District of Columbia, with first place representing the lowest rate of hardship.
The report also found that though the majority of adults in Florida were working in 2023 and most households had at least one worker, only 21% of the population age 16 and over had the security of a full-time job with a salary.
Housing costs are the most notable challenge for households below the ALICE Threshold, the report found.
In 2023, 28% of all renter households in Florida below the threshold paid 30% to 49% of their income on housing. An additional 50% paid half of their income or more. Combined, 78% of all renter households below the threshold in Florida were rent burdened.
The report emphasized the need for coordinated efforts from government, nonprofits, businesses, and philanthropy to address the financial challenges faced by ALICE households.