LOCAL
Kimberly Marsh, The Oklahoma Eagle
Using the ALICE measurement, more Oklahoma households are experiencing poverty than by federal standards. Photo: Adobe stock
Mike Ward, a barista at Fulton Street Books & Coffee, makes about $20,000 less than what he needs to have a stable household. As a result, Ward says he lives paycheck to paycheck and must constantly decide which bills to pay.
His situation is representative of nearly 30% of Oklahoma households, examined in a report released at the end of September, that earn wages above the poverty line but make too much to receive government financial assistance.
The report from Tulsa Area United Way (TAUW) uses a measure called ALICE — households that are asset-limited and income-constrained but employed. Using data from 2023, it found 16% of Oklahoma households live in poverty based on federal data. But that number jumps to 29% under the ALICE model.
The study includes data for every ZIP code in Oklahoma. It also has a toolkit which TAUW research and data director Melanie Poulter says she hopes will be used by elected officials to make more informed decisions.
“We want community leaders, community stakeholders, decision makers, to really have this data resource to base their decisions and planning efforts on facts,” Poulter said. “If they’re relying on the federal poverty level to describe who’s in need financially, that is inaccurate.”
In Tulsa County, more than 76,000 households are considered both ALICE and below the federal poverty level threshold. The city’s 74110 ZIP code, an area between North Utica and North Harvard avenues and Admiral Boulevard to 36th Street North, has the largest percentage of households that fall into these categories.
By government standards, a single adult making $14,580 or less — or a family of four making $30,000 — is considered living in poverty. But in Oklahoma, the average basic costs in the ALICE Household Survival Budget were $27,780 for a single adult and $80,832 for a family of four.
“ALICE gives us how and where in the specific sectors — housing, transportation costs, health care costs — families are struggling, and pinpoints what types of resources working families need,” said Delia Kimbrel, who leads ImpactTulsa’s research and data strategy. ImpactTulsa is an educational nonprofit that also serves as the operational arm for the Mayor’s Office of Children, Youth, and Families.
Now that they have the data, Impact Tulsa will convene partners and decision makers to discuss the results and strategize on how to use the information, Kimbrel said.
