About 42% of households in Collier can't make ends meet. In Lee, that figure is 43%.

Not everyone is living their best life in Naples or Fort Myers.

Forget the idea that Collier County residents often dine at fine restaurants and live in gated communities with manicured lawns.

A new report shows that 42% of Collier County households are living paycheck to paycheck, according to the United Way of Collier and the Keys.

And that’s based on 2022 economic data, before the steady rise in inflation that puts even more strain on already tight household budgets.

The situation is similar for families in Lee County, where 43 percent of households live paycheck to paycheck.

More: Even as inflation slows, Americans say they are shocked by prices displayed at supermarket checkouts

“Overall, people are struggling more than they were two years ago,” said Tiffani Mensch, president and CEO of United Way of Collier and the Keys.

The fight has not stopped

Some workers in the lowest-paid jobs in the United States saw their wages increase, but the number of struggling households in Florida increased by 190,000, according to United Way data.

The latest figures indicate that 4,056,220 households statewide are living paycheck to paycheck.

That’s 46 percent of the state’s 8.8 million households.

The information comes from the nonprofit United for ALICE, which collects data on critical social issues in 31 states and partners with United Way agencies to drive change.

ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed and is used as an alternative to federal poverty level guidelines. These are standardized measures to quantify the cost of a basic household budget to show how many households are struggling to get by.

Workers who fit the ALICE category include people working in the service sector, such as restaurant servers, but also teachers and some nurses.

What is ALICE?

For a family of four, with an infant and a preschooler, the basic costs of living in Florida, or a household survival budget, were $80,748 in 2021, but that rose to $86,316 in 2022.

A “household survival budget” reflects the minimum cost of living and working in the current economy and includes housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, technology, and taxes. It does not include saving for emergencies or future goals like college or retirement.

The results of the latest report based on 2022 data are consistent with a trend that has lasted for decades: the number of households falling into the ALICE category has continued to increase.

Between 2010 and 2022, the number of households living in poverty increased by 27% and the number of households living in poverty increased by 8%, according to the nonprofit agency.

“Current policy has not been enough to break down the barriers that trap ALICE households in financial hardship, from lack of access to housing to affordable child care to inadequate community supports like high-speed internet,” Stephanie Hoopes, national director of United for ALICE, said in a press release.

What is the situation in Collier?

The report says 70,261 Collier households live paycheck to paycheck. That’s 42 percent of the county’s 166,206 households.

The median household income in Collier is $80,815.

A detailed analysis shows that 53,999 Collier households are considered ALICE households, whose incomes are above the federal poverty line but do not earn enough money to survive in the current economic situation. Additionally, people in this income bracket earn too much to qualify for assistance, Mensch said. Another 16,262 Collier households live in poverty.

What is the survival budget needed to make ends meet? The statewide figure is $86,316 for a family of four.

In Collier, the report says the figure is $82,164 for a family of four, but Mensch acknowledges that figure is too low.

The annual survival budget for a family of four in Collier is closer to $103,000 based on the reality of housing costs, she said.

ALICE data uses the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s “fair market rent” at 40^th percentile, which is $1,273 per month for a family of four, while 60% of rentals are sold at a price above that amount.

“The reality of our current housing environment is that homes at the 40th percentile are often not available, which means that the actual costs for ALICE households are likely much higher than what we see in the survival budget,” she said.

And what about Lee County?

The data shows that 107,307 families are considered ALICE households while another 37,203 households live in poverty.

That’s 43 percent of households living paycheck to paycheck, according to the data. In total, Lee has 339,269 households.

The monthly cost needed to survive for a family of four is $6,141 and the annual income needed is $73,692.

The median income is $71,072, according to the data.