A new statewide affordability study estimates that 190,530 Rhode Island households — 42.64% of the state total — could not cover a locally adjusted basket of basic expenses in 2024. That finding sharply widens the picture beyond the official poverty count: 58,903 households, or 13.18%, were in poverty, while another 131,627, or 29.46%, earned above that line but remained below the study’s basic-needs threshold.
The 2026 “ALICE in Rhode Island” report, released by United Way of Rhode Island with United For ALICE, uses the acronym for “Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.” It describes households whose income exceeds the federal poverty level but falls short of what the researchers calculate is needed for housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, technology and taxes in the county where they live.
The distinction matters because the federal poverty level is a national eligibility benchmark, while the ALICE threshold is a research measure that varies by household type and local costs. It is not an official government poverty rate. United For ALICE says its Household Survival Budget is deliberately minimal and excludes savings, debt payments, entertainment and unexpected costs. The organization combines that budget with income data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.
For a Rhode Island household with two adults, an infant and a preschooler, the report calculated a 2024 survival budget of $111,000 a year. By comparison, it estimated that one adult working full time as a cook and the other as a bank teller would bring home a combined $86,810. The same family’s federal poverty level was $31,200. Those comparisons show why a household can be well above the federal line and still lack enough income for the report’s basic-cost model.
The statewide rate also exceeded the report’s 41% national estimate. United For ALICE ranked Rhode Island 39th among the states and District of Columbia when first place represented the lowest hardship rate. The study found that the number of Rhode Island households below its threshold increased from 172,201 in 2010 to 190,530 in 2024, though their share stayed within a 39% to 43% range over that period.
The burden was not evenly distributed. According to Rhode Island Current’s reporting on the study’s release, 63% of Hispanic households, 56% of Black households and 64% of households headed by someone 65 or older were below the threshold. The report also identified high ALICE shares among child-care workers, construction laborers, cashiers, servers and landscaping workers.
United Way of Rhode Island President and CEO Cortney Nicolato said the organization plans to use the findings in conversations with employers and lawmakers, including work on transportation and child-care supports. The practical policy signal is not that 43% of households are officially poor; it is that the report identifies a much larger group vulnerable to rent increases, medical bills, car repairs or work disruptions despite having income above the federal poverty line.
