Nearly half of New York households were unable to afford a basic household budget in 2024, according to a new statewide report that argues the federal poverty rate significantly understates the scale of financial hardship.
The 2026 State of ALICE in New York report found 48% of the state’s 7.8 million households were below what researchers call the ALICE Threshold — a measure that includes households living in poverty as well as those earning above the federal poverty line but still unable to cover basic expenses where they live.
That amounted to about 3.74 million New York households. Of those, roughly 1.1 million were classified as living in poverty and another 2.63 million were classified as ALICE — Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
The report, produced by United For ALICE and brought to New York by United Way of New York State, found New York’s 48% hardship rate was above the 41% national average. Among states and the District of Columbia, New York ranked 49th when ranked from the lowest share of households below the ALICE Threshold to the highest.
The report uses 2024 data, the most recent available, and does not reflect policy, funding or economic changes that occurred after that year.
Basic costs far exceed the federal poverty line
At the center of the report is a comparison between the federal poverty level and what researchers estimate households actually need to cover basic expenses.
In 2024, the federal poverty level was $15,060 for a single adult and $31,200 for a family of four.
The ALICE Household Survival Budget for New York was considerably higher: $37,956 annually for a single adult and $102,540 for a family with two adults, an infant and a preschooler.
The budget includes housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, basic technology, taxes and a miscellaneous category intended to account for limited cost overruns. It does not include savings for retirement, emergency expenses, debt payments, vacations, restaurant meals, new clothing or major household purchases.
For a single working-age adult, the statewide average Survival Budget worked out to $3,163 per month, including $1,210 for housing, $518 for food, $385 for transportation, $204 for health care and $129 for technology.
A household with two adults, an infant and a preschooler faced an average monthly Survival Budget of $8,545. Child care alone averaged $2,345 per month, while housing averaged $1,569 and food averaged $1,404.
The report calculated that a single adult would need full-time earnings equivalent to about $18.98 per hour to cover the basic budget. The family of four would need combined full-time earnings equivalent to $51.27 per hour.
Researchers compared that family budget with two common New York occupations — a cook and a bank teller. Their combined full-time earnings totaled $76,144, nearly $26,400 below the $102,540 Survival Budget.
The report also found the cost of basic necessities has been rising faster than broader inflation. From 2021 through 2024, New York’s ALICE Essentials Index increased at an annual rate of 6.7%, compared with a 2.7% annual increase between 2007 and 2019.
Financial hardship has remained persistently high
New York’s hardship rate has remained elevated for more than a decade despite changing economic conditions.
The number of households below the ALICE Threshold increased from about 3.16 million in 2010 to 3.74 million in 2024.
Over that period, the percentage of households below the threshold ranged from 43% to 48%. The rate reached 48% in both 2023 and 2024.
Researchers found the number of ALICE households generally trended upward between 2010 and 2024, while the number of households officially classified as living in poverty remained relatively flat.
That distinction is central to the report’s argument that poverty statistics alone miss a large share of financially insecure households.
The federal poverty level does not substantially adjust for differences in local costs of living and is based on a methodology developed in the 1960s. ALICE researchers instead calculate household budgets by county and family composition.
Those local differences can be substantial. The report found annual costs for a single adult were highest in New York County, which includes Manhattan, and lowest in Franklin County. For a family of four, costs were highest in New York County and lowest in Chenango County.
Housing consumes a large share of household income
Housing emerged as one of the largest pressures facing financially strained households.
Among renter households below the ALICE Threshold, 68% were considered rent burdened, meaning they spent at least 30% of their income on rent and utilities.
Twenty-five percent spent between 30% and 49% of their income on housing, while another 43% spent at least half of their income on rent and utilities.
Homeowners below the threshold also faced significant pressure. Sixty-one percent spent at least 30% of their income on mortgage payments, utilities, property taxes, homeowners insurance and other housing costs.
The report also found financially insecure households had substantially fewer reserves available when something went wrong.
Using Federal Reserve survey data for the Middle Atlantic region, which includes New York, the report said 39% of households below the ALICE Threshold reported having enough emergency savings to cover three months of expenses. Among households above the threshold, 72% had that level of savings.
Retirement assets showed an even larger divide: 48% of households below the threshold reported retirement assets, compared with 92% of households above it.
Hardship varies sharply by age and household type
Financial hardship affected every major demographic group studied, but some experienced much higher rates than others.
Households headed by someone younger than 25 had the highest rate by age, with 68% below the ALICE Threshold.
Among households headed by someone 65 or older, 57% were below the threshold. That older population also grew rapidly: the number of New York households headed by someone 65 or older increased 44% between 2010 and 2024.
By comparison, 42% of households headed by someone between 25 and 44 were below the threshold, along with 44% of those headed by someone between 45 and 64.
Single-parent households faced some of the highest rates in the report.
Seventy-seven percent of single-female-headed families with children were below the threshold, including 38% in poverty and another 39% classified as ALICE.
Among single-male-headed families with children, 61% were below the threshold. The rate fell to 27% for married-parent households with children.
Single or cohabiting households without children and headed by someone younger than 65 — the state’s most common household type — had a 45% hardship rate.
The report also found significant differences by race and ethnicity. Sixty-six percent of Black households and 65% of Hispanic households were below the threshold. The rate was 64% among American Indian and Alaska Native households, 62% among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander households, 54% among households headed by people of two or more races, 49% among Asian households and 39% among White, non-Hispanic households.
In raw numbers, White households represented the largest group below the threshold, at about 1.76 million.
Rural counties had lower hardship rates overall
The report found a lower overall rate of financial hardship in predominantly rural counties than in predominantly urban counties.
About 41% of households in rural counties were below the ALICE Threshold, compared with 49% in urban counties.
County-level rates ranged from 76% in the Bronx to 29% in Saratoga County.
Researchers cautioned that financial conditions can vary widely even within individual counties. In Brooklyn, for example, the share of households below the threshold ranged from 83% in one ZIP code to 26% in another.
Many full-time workers still fall short
Employment alone did not guarantee financial stability.
The report found 52% of full-time workers in New York did not earn enough to support the Survival Budget for one adult and one school-age child.
A wage of $20 per hour was insufficient to support that household type in every New York county in 2024.
Workers in accommodation and food services faced the highest hardship rate among the 10 largest industries studied. Fifty-two percent lived in households below the ALICE Threshold.
Other industries with relatively high rates included transportation and warehousing and other services, both at 43%, retail trade at 40%, and construction at 36%.
Financial hardship also varied dramatically by occupation.
Seventy-one percent of home health aides were below the ALICE Threshold, the highest rate among the 20 most common occupations reviewed. The median hourly wage for those workers was $17.57.
Sixty percent of cashiers were below the threshold, as were 60% of personal care aides, 57% of cooks, 53% of janitors and building cleaners, 50% of construction laborers and 49% of teaching assistants.
At the other end of the spectrum, 5% of lawyers and judges, 7% of chief executives and legislators, 8% of software developers, 12% of accountants and auditors, and 14% of registered nurses were below the threshold.
Work arrangements mattered as well. Twenty-seven percent of people in New York’s labor force worked part time in 2024. Among part-time workers, 48% were below the ALICE Threshold, compared with 24% of full-time workers.
Only about 40% of employed New Yorkers age 16 and older had what the report described as the security of a salaried, full-time job. The remainder relied on hourly, part-time, gig or other nonstandard arrangements that can carry more variable hours and fewer benefits.
Education lowers risk, but debt can add pressure
Financial hardship declined substantially as educational attainment increased.
Among New York workers with less than a high school diploma, 59% were below the ALICE Threshold. The rate fell to 44% for workers with a high school diploma or GED, 36% for those with some college or an associate degree, and 17% for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
But the report also highlighted the cost of obtaining that education.
The average federal student loan balance in New York was $38,751 in 2024.
National Federal Reserve data included in the report showed borrowers below the ALICE Threshold were much more likely to have student debt equal to more than half of their household income. That was true for 61% of borrowers below the threshold, compared with 30% above it.
Borrowers below the threshold were also twice as likely to be behind on payments or in collections — 26%, compared with 13% among those above the threshold.
Some workers earn too much for tax assistance, but not enough for basics
The report also identified a gap between eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit and the income needed to meet basic household costs.
The federal EITC provides refundable tax credits to low- and moderate-income workers, with eligibility determined by income and family composition. New York also offers a refundable state EITC equal to 30% of the federal credit.
But the report found 48% of single households and 56% of married-parent households with two children that were below the ALICE Threshold had income above the federal EITC eligibility cutoff.
In practical terms, those households earned too much to qualify for the federal credit but still did not earn enough to cover the report’s basic household budget.
The report did not prescribe a specific policy response. Instead, United For ALICE said governments, employers, nonprofits and community organizations could use the data to identify gaps in housing, child care, transportation, wages, financial services and public assistance.
Researchers also cautioned that ALICE data are estimates drawn primarily from the American Community Survey and therefore carry statistical uncertainty. The report excludes people who are unhoused or living in group quarters such as college dormitories, nursing facilities and military barracks.
Still, its central finding is clear: the number of New Yorkers experiencing financial strain extends far beyond those officially counted as living in poverty.
In 2024, roughly one in every two households in the state fell short of the income researchers estimated was necessary to cover basic costs where they lived.
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