2025 ALICE in Virginia: Northern Shenandoah Valley
United is the Way to Spark Change for Assest Limited, Income Constrained, Employed Individuals
Financial hardship is a reality for thousands of working households in our region. The 2025 State of ALICE in Virginia Report shows that while 10% of Virginia households live in poverty, another 28% are ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. Together, that means 39% of households statewide, more than 1.3 million families, cannot afford the basics of housing, childcare, food, transportation, health care, and technology.
In the Northern Shenandoah Valley, ALICE data reveals the struggles of households in Winchester, Frederick, Clarke, Shenandoah, Warren, and Page counties. These are the neighbors who keep our economy running — child care providers, food service workers, delivery drivers, nursing assistants. Yet too many still earn too little to make ends meet.
Explore the full report and county-level data:
Understanding ALICE
ALICE is an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
While the term can sound narrow — and some may hear it as gendered or exclusive — the framework is actually inclusionary. ALICE does not describe one group, but rather a reality shared by families, seniors, young adults, and households across every background in our Valley.
ALICE helps us see what the Federal Poverty Level misses: the families who work hard but earn too much to qualify for assistance and too little to cover the cost of living. By naming this reality, the ALICE framework makes invisible struggles visible and drives us toward inclusive solutions.
Why ALICE Matters
For ALICE families, stability is fragile. When paychecks do not stretch far enough, households face impossible choices:
Pay the rent or pay for child care
Fill a prescription or repair the car needed for work
Buy healthy food or keep the lights on
These choices strip away the foundation families need for food, shelter, and stability. And the impact ripples outward. When families struggle, schools, small businesses, and the entire Valley economy are weakened.
ALICE by the Numbers
Nearly 4 in 10 households in our region live below the ALICE Threshold, unable to cover basic needs.
Over 40% of households with children struggle to afford essentials, even with full-time work.
More than one-third of senior households live below the ALICE Threshold, often forced to choose between housing, healthcare, and food.
Essential workers — from home health aides to cashiers — make up much of ALICE, keeping the Valley running while struggling themselves.
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The average ALICE household falls short by $37,000 per year, adding up to a $1.3 billion annual shortfall across the Northern Shenandoah Valley.
How We Use This Research
The ALICE data is more than a snapshot of hardship — it is a tool for action and case-making. In the Northern Shenandoah Valley, it shows how households across every background are impacted, giving us the evidence to design solutions that meet real community needs.
Nonprofits use it to design programs that meet families where they are.
Policymakers use it to guide decisions on housing, childcare, and workforce investment.
Businesses use it to understand the challenges facing employees and customers.
Communities use it to align resources, spark collaboration, and measure progress.
By putting this research to work, we move from acknowledging the problem to building solutions.
From Band-Aids to Systems Change
Meeting immediate needs like food or rent relief is vital, but it will never be enough on its own. Real resilience requires changing the systems that keep families one paycheck away from crisis. Across the Northern Shenandoah Valley, United Way and its partners are advancing scalable approaches that:
Connect services into a stronger net by aligning nonprofits, schools, health providers, and employers — ensuring families don’t fall through gaps when support runs out.
Turn big challenges into practical pilots by working with local and state leaders to funnel broad issues like housing abundance into focused, attackable solutions that can be scaled across the Valley.
Unite partners through coalitions and councils that bring nonprofits, government, and businesses together around shared priorities — driving accountability, collaboration, and collective momentum.
This approach positions United Way as more than a funder. We convene, strategize, and build the partnerships needed to reimagine what stability looks like for our region. These strategies move beyond household-level fixes toward systemic solutions that can scale across the Valley. Because charity alone cannot close a $1.3 billion shortfall — but innovation, collaboration, and structural change can.
A Shared Commitment
Supporting ALICE households strengthens the Valley’s foundation. When families find stability, the ripple effect reaches all of us — children can learn, workers can stay housed and healthy, businesses can rely on a stable workforce, and neighborhoods grow stronger, safer, and more resilient.
Every dollar invested in solutions today reduces the $1.3B shortfall tomorrow — building a Valley where every neighbor can thrive.
United is the Way. Together, we can spark change — transforming research into solutions and creating a stronger Northern Shenandoah Valley for everyone.