The United Way’s annual ALICE (Asset-limited, income-constrained, employed) report is out. It finds that 42% of South Carolinians live below the threshold of living comfortably.
The threshold is defined as the minimum average income a household needs to afford basic necessities, such as housing, childcare, food, transportation, healthcare, and technology where the household is.
Based on United Way’s ALICE calculator, a household making $45,000 or less per year is considered an ALICE household.
According to the U.S. Census, the median household income in South Carolina in 2024 was $68,818; median per capita income was $37,993.
The statewide average is typical of the Southeast overall, and identical to that of North Carolina.
But that’ average muddies much higher ALICE rates in certain areas of the state and among certain populations.
Geography
Broken down by county, four have more than 60% of their populations living below the ALICE threshold. The highest rate is in Marlboro County – 67%. The others, in descending order, are Marion, Bamberg, and Allendale counties.
Four counties – Beaufort, Lexington, York, and Lancaster – are tied for the lowest rates of sub-ALICE households, at 38%.
Broken down by zip code, the highest rates of households below the threshold are in Garnett, Hampton County, 87%. In Pineville, Berkeley County, 8 in 10 households are below the threshold.
Race
In every county, the percentage of White households living below the ALICE threshold is lower than the percentage of Black Households. In three counties – Calhoun, Williamsburg, and Allendale – the percentage of Hispanic households below the ALICE threshold is lower than that for White households.
At least 50% of Black households in every county live below the threshold. Seventy percent or more of Black households in seven counties – Marlboro, Darlington, Marion, Edgefield, McCormick, Bamberg, and Barnwell – are below the ALICE threshold.
The largest disparity between Black and White households below the threshold is in Charleston County, where the difference between Black and White is 37 percentage points. In three counties – Edgefield, McCormick, and Jasper – the difference is 35 percentage points. In four other counties – Greenville, Beaufort, Barnwell, and Darlington – the difference is at least 30 percentage points.
The highest percentage of Hispanic households below the threshold is in Marlboro County – 89%.
Age
At least half of South Carolinians younger than 25 live below the ALICE threshold in most counties. In a third of counties, at least 80% of residents younger than 25 live below the threshold. In Fairfield County, 93 percent live below.
About two-thirds of residents older than 65 live below the threshold in 15 counties.
Family Status
Married couples with children are less likely to live below the threshold in most counties.
When it comes to single parents, single men with children are less likely in general than women to be living below the threshold. But in six counties – Union, Saluda, Calhoun, Williamsburg, Marion, Marlboro, and Jasper – at least 8 in 10 single fathers live below.
Of the 114 single fathers counted in Jasper County, two live above ALICE.
That same rate – 98% -- holds true for single mothers in Calhoun County. Nine in 10 single women with children live below the ALICE threshold in Barnwell, Jasper, Georgetown, and Clarendon counties, and hover at 89% in Dillon and Marlboro counties.
