I wrote about West Virginia’s poverty level in last week’s commentary, based on U.S. Census figures. However, those numbers do tell only part of the story of the financial challenges in our state.

The United Way’s ALICE report is more revealing.

ALICE stands for asset limited, income constrained and employed.  It’s a measure of those living above the federal poverty level but still struggling to make ends meet.

ALICE is a more real-life view of poverty because it presents a comprehensive look at the cost of household basics—housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care, and technology, plus taxes.  The United Way describes it as “a minimal budget with no room for emergency expenses, debt payments or saving for the future.”

Here are some of the key findings from the 2026 report:

–28 percent of West Virginia households are above the poverty level but are still facing “financial hardship.”  (ALICE’s Household Survival Budget was $28,332 for a single adult and $78,156 for a family of four with two adults, an infant and a preschooler.)

–When those in poverty are included, 45 percent of West Virginia households were struggling to afford basic necessities.  That is higher than the national average of 41 percent and 46 among the 50 states and Washington, D.C.

–Two-thirds of households headed by someone under 25 were below the ALICE threshold.

–77 percent of single-mother households and 60 percent of single-father households were below the threshold.

–McDowell County had the highest percentage of families struggling to meet basic needs, 74 percent, while Jefferson County had the lowest at 32 percent.

The United Way report classifies the individuals who are above the poverty level but in the ALICE category as individuals who keep the economy functioning smoothly—they are childcare providers, food service workers, cashiers, personal care aides, delivery drivers and more.  Yet their own households struggle to afford the basics.”

This is the hardest truth for many West Virginians.  Think of the individual who has to drive 30 miles each way to work and then pay 60 dollars to fill up every week or the working single mother who pays $650 a month in childcare…if she can find it.

Then there are the trips to the grocery store.  The ALICE report calculates the minimum weekly food budget for a family of four is about $300.

Those are predictable expenses. What happens when the car breaks down, the water heater needs replacing, or the roof on their house springs a leak?

Margaret O’Neal, president of United Way Central West Virginia, said the ALICE data show a more complete picture of the financial challenges facing families here.

“United Way believes the ALICE project is a way to bring attention to hardworking West Virginians who struggle every day to make ends meet. Giving singles and families a face and a voice through ALICE causes us to see the people behind the numbers—people who work hard every day—and have real conversations about how we can address this issue,” she told me in an email. 

Former governor and now U.S. Senator Jim Justice used to say West Virginia was a “rocket ship ride.”   Governor Patrick Morrisey said at the recent Chamber of Commerce Business Summit, while making an economic development announcement, that the state “is firing on all cylinders.” President Trump in a speech to the United Nations this week touted jobs and investment and said that his administration has ushered in a “golden age of America.”

Politicians like to tout positive economy numbers, and that is understandable.   But the rosy forecasts are disconnected from a harsher reality that a sizable portion of West Virginians face every day.