- October 14, 2026
Should I pay for my utilities or fill up my car's gas tank? Can I afford my prescription this month, or do I need that money to buy groceries for my family?
These are some examples of the questions more than 100,000 families in Volusia and Flagler counties must ask themselves as the cost of living continues to worsen the affordability crisis. A new report by United Way found that in 2024, 44% of households in the two counties fell below the ALICE threshold — ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
That percentage equals 102,302 households in Volusia and Flagler. It includes families that are considered in poverty by the federal government, but it also includes those who are earning incomes above the federal poverty level, according to a news release from the Community Foundation and United Way of Volusia-Flagler Counties.
"These are working individuals," said Amanda Lasecki, chief operating officer for CF/UWVFC. "These are people who are working, many times, multiple jobs, and still struggling to make ends meet. It's just one car breaking down, one air conditioner going out that can really send these households down a tough path."
What's causing the most financial strain? Housing costs.
In the state of Florida, 78% of ALICE households who rent are considered cost-burdened, meaning they are paying 30% or more of their income toward rent and utilities. Nearly half of ALICE households pay 50% or more.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the fair market rent in the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach metro area for a studio apartment is $1,205. For a three-bedroom apartment, it's $2,241.
For the Palm Coast metro area, fair market rent is higher — $1,278 for a studio and $2,468 for a three-bedroom.
HUD has updated the fair market values for rent, Lasecki said, and that's helpful. At the same time, those values are not what families are seeing.
"What we're hearing from our partners, what we're seeing is that's still not something that people are able to find an apartment, at that level, at that price per month," she said.
Language surrounding affordability is changing at the state level. Officials are now using "attainability" as costs to own or rent a home continue to increase, Lasecki said.
"Can you even attain housing?" she said. "Let alone if it's affordable. Can you even access housing?"
Financial strain due to housing costs often leads to food insecurity, Lasecki added. Paying rent becomes the top priority and food becomes an area where they will make sacrifices.
As such, United Way has established a food security fund to help those in need in the two-county area.
"We also convened a food security roundtable, and so this allowed our local nonprofit partners — a lot of whom are working in the food security space, food pantries, things of that nature — to come together, share best practices, how they can work together, especially when we saw the freezes to the SNAP benefits and the WIC benefits," Lasecki said. "This was an area where we could step in to convene those groups to come together and figure out how to best meet that need."
For households who are primarily employed by the hospitality and service sector, this can be a major challenge. ALICE data shows that statewide, 66% of maids and housekeeping cleaners, 53% of cooks, and 46% of wait staff are below the ALICE threshold.
"There are a lot of hospitality service sector positions here in our community that need to be filled," Lasecki said. "A lot of our businesses struggle with keeping those filled, and those households are typically ALICE households."
United Way reports that a family of four in Flagler County, needs an annual income of $82,175 to cover only essentials. In Volusia County, a family would need $80,484. United Way notes that this is almost three times the Federal Poverty Level of $31,200.
“Behind these numbers are families making impossible choices every day — between groceries and utilities, child care and rent,” said Courtney Edgcomb, President and CEO of CF/UWVFC in the news release. “The ALICE data helps guide our work with partners across Volusia and Flagler Counties, so we can respond to immediate needs and help build stronger paths to stability.”
United Way currently offers a 211 hotline for people who need resources. Lasecki said 14,000 people a year call the hotline, which is open 24/7, and that number has increased year over year.
"Our board agreed to make a big investment in that this year to update that database because what we're finding is with the decrease in local, state, and federal grant funding, our nonprofits are changing what they have availability for," Lasecki said, explaining that United Way is able to guide callers through available resources with up-to-date information.
People often think that federal benefits are enough to help people in need, she added. Some people may be out of the workforce and unaware of how much higher the cost of living is for families today. That's why ALICE data makes a difference, she said.
"I think ALICE shines a light on those folks and those households that, as you can see, are a large percentage of Volusia/Flagler counties," Lasecki said.
