Report shows 37.4% of households live paycheck to paycheck.
On Sept. 28, 2026, United Way of Anchorage released ALICE in Alaska: A Study of Financial Hardship. Our report offers the most comprehensive depiction to date of people who are Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed (ALICE) in our state. Using the latest data from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, it unveils new measures, based on 2024 income levels and expenses, to demonstrate the financial hardships that many Alaskans are facing. Anchorage Daily News covered this release and our presentation of it at The Alaska Chamber of Commerce's "Make It Monday" forum.
Financial Hardships
"Life is really expensive right now,” said Mike Jones, a University of Alaska Anchorage’s Institute of Social and Economic Research professor of applied economics and co-presenter at The Chamber event. Our ALICE in Alaska report shows that an Alaska family of four with two children enrolled in childcare must pay $98,364 to meet their basic needs--even though the federal poverty level for that same family is calculated at just $39,000.
Insufficient Funds
During The Chamber presentation, our President and CEO Eric Utraq Billingsley noted that these ALICE Alaska families "are earning money or have income coming in but are below the cost of basic goods." He referenced childcare workers as an example of employed people who, on average in our state's communities, do not make enough money to cover the essentials. Forty-nine percent of them are below the ALICE threshold.
Basic Costs and Average Wages
Household Survival Budget = $98,364
Childcare Workers
Only 51% Above ALICE Threshold
Economic Precarity
"The data in the Alaska report captures economic trends from 2010 to 2024, the last year many of the numbers were available. They miss emerging economic precarity from recent federal actions like tariff policies, the energy crunch resulting from the Iran war, and large technology firms pushing American stock indexes to new heights," reports ADN. With your help, United Way can tackle the challenges impacting ALICE Alaska households, create solutions that address their needs, and take steps to ensure every Alaskan has opportunities to thrive.