Jessica Fulghem-Jarmon, a 36-year-old Army veteran, is greeting neighbors outside her Grandview, Missouri, apartment after dropping off her children at school. Inside her cozy, two-bedroom apartment where she raises her three boys, she said being a single-parent family has become increasingly untenable.
“There have been times when I have to pick and choose which bill to pay,” said Fulghem-Jarmon. “In May we were in a car accident, somebody ran a yield sign and hit us. Trying to navigate the doctor's appointments and the medication, that really tested me.”
Fulghem-Jarmon’s experience underscores what the United Way of Greater Kansas City’s new Missouri ALICE data reveals. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, and the data evaluates the financial risk of those who live above official poverty levels but who are either unable to meet the costs of daily living or who are at risk of financial crisis with an unexpected medical, transportation, or housing expense.
Kera Masheck with United Way said they released the data to bring awareness to the extent of financial hardship many Missourians face, and to come up with solutions.
“We can use this information to better shape the work that we do collectively in the community,” she said. “Whether that's more supportive workplace policies, pay scales being increased or better benefits for employees.”
United for ALICE was first launched by United Way in Northern New Jersey in 2012. The Kansas branch adopted the system in 2023. Mashek said they were surprised to find so many in Kansas who lived above the federal poverty level, but who were still within one unexpected cost increase or expense of financial disaster.
“I believe around 26% of households in Johnson County met that ALICE threshold criteria," she said. “And in Wyandotte County, it's almost half, so even in the wealthiest counties this population is very present, and even more predominant in communities of color.”
Families of four with a household income of $33,000 or less in 2026 are considered at or below the Federal Poverty Level, according to healthcare.gov.
But the federal poverty level does not reflect the true cost of living in Missouri, according to the ALICE Household Survival Budget. The ALICE metric takes into account the cost of essentials needed to live and work in the current economy — the cost of housing, food, transportation, taxes, and health care today in Missouri. According to this metric, a household of four needs to have an income of $72,228 to be financially secure.
35 states, including Washington, D.C., now use ALICE metrics. Mashek said Tennessee has used the ALICE data to make significant changes.
“A community in Chattanooga, Tennessee ... they brought together some different financial institutions to provide financial education in the community and also lower-interest car loans because we know transportation is a huge barrier.”
Back in Grandview, Missouri, Fulghem-Jarmon is picking up toys and clothes and putting dishes in her kitchen sink. She said the ALICE data underscores the financial challenges of many in Missouri, where voters just recently approved an increase in the minimum wage to $15 in 2025.
“Our Missouri lawmakers and legislators really need to dive deep into these numbers, because this isn't something that just grew overnight,” said Fulghem-Jarmon. “If our Missouri legislators could actually take this data from real people and have those actual, genuine, uncomfortable conversations, because the only way everybody's going to be comfortable is to get uncomfortable.”
