47% of households in county are struggling financially

More households struggle in Manistee County than most neighboring areas

By Arielle Breen, Assistant Editor, Manistee News Advocate

Jan 12, 2025

Nearly half of Manistee County’s households — or about 4,666 — are financially struggling. And statewide, the number of people in that category is expected to keep growing. That is according to the U.S. research organization United for ALICE which looks at numbers of households that are considered asset limited, income constrained and employed.

Meet ALICE

ALICE as households are listed by United for ALICE as a household where people earn “just above the Federal Poverty Level but less than what it costs to make ends meet.”

“These struggling households are forced to make impossible choices each day,” United for ALICE’s website notes. Corey Van Fleet, United Way of Manistee County executive director, said these choices can often come to deciding which essentials like food or medicine to pay for and which to go without.

Manistee County has a 36% ALICE household rate paired with 11% poverty, making 47% of households in the county below the ALICE threshold. In Manistee County, Cleon and Springdale townships had the highest percentage of households under the ALICE threshold at 66% and 59%, respectively.

Van Fleet said people below the ALICE line are impacted in their daily lives. United Way and other local organizations team up to help people access resources and guidance. 

This can be rent, utilities, child care, food, transportation and health care costs. He said all the essential components are interconnected not just for any given household, but for the broader picture shaping the people who live and work in the area. 

“The housing situation affects whether younger families can stay in our community. So we see people having to move away because they can’t afford to live in Manistee County,” Van Fleet explained. He said the county needs people who can work since it also helps local businesses and in turn the local economy. “You almost have to deal with it all at the same time,” he said of the needs to be addressed.

The 2024 ALICE in the Crosscurrents Update report notes a consistent trend of more Michigan households “that are struggling financially, often ineligible for public assistance and undercounted by official measures.”

"(This) represents a major vulnerability in our economic system,” the update said. “It also suggests that overall social and economic policies are falling short in addressing the root causes of financial instability.”The number of Michigan’s ALICE households has increased by 20% from 2010 to 2022 in what the report calls a clear trend.

The report also points out that ALICE households are less prepared for crises, emergency savings and retirement. 

The Federal Reserve Board’s 2022 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking shows 63% of ALICE households did not have emergency savings to cover expenses for three months. Sixty-seven percent of households above the ALICE level did have emergency funds for three months.

People 65 and older accounted for the most substantial increase in ALICE households in Michigan, the survey showed. In 2022, 51% of the age group’s households were below the ALICE threshold in the state. Manistee County had 52% of the 65 and older group considered below ALICE levels.

Contextual comparisons

Van Fleet said Manistee County is recognized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a place in need of help.

“Our United Way is the board for the emergency food and shelter program — which is a Fema program run out of United Way Worldwide in Washington,” Van Fleet said. “Manistee over the last number of years has gotten Fema monies to help us supplement food, shelter, emergency needs.”

He said that funding is based on a combination of factors including poverty, ALICE rates and unemployment.  

“I don’t want to get into pitting one township or county against another, but we get $39,000 (for Manistee County). Mason County got $15,000, Wexford got nothing … Benzie, Grand Traverse, that area (got nothing),” he said. “It gives you some idea that we’re in a spot here that we’ve got people struggling.”

Of the 9,927 households in Manistee County, 36% fall under ALICE definitions compared to the state’s average of 26%. Van Fleet said when one combines the ALICE and poverty rates for the county it shows that people are working but unable to “make it.”

This is higher than all other neighboring counties except Lake County. Lake and Clare counties tied for the worst in the state at 58% under the ALICE threshold. Lake and Clare counties have 40% ALICE and 18% poverty households. Manistee County has a lower poverty average than the state at 11% compared to Michigan’s 13%. Within Manistee County, ALICE percentages range from 34% in Arcadia Township to 66% in Cleon Township. 

According to a statewide update, the most common Michigan workers who were likely to be under the ALICE threshold had median hourly wages ranging from  $13.74 to $17.37. Personal care aides led the list with 52% under the ALICE threshold, followed by cooks (49%), fast food and counter workers (49%), wait staff (46%), cashiers (46%) and nursing assistants (41%).

On the other side of the list are the workers who were least likely to be under the ALICE threshold: software developers, elementary and middle school teachers, registered nurses, and sales representatives in wholesale and manufacturing. 

Those categories had median hourly wages ranging from $30.20 to $48.59. 

Local resources

United Way of Manistee County has initiatives that focus on connecting residents with essential resources, coordinating services and addressing service gaps. The nonprofit supports other nonprofits through local partnerships by offering services such as food distribution, housing security, educational programs, childcare, mental health services and employment opportunities.

“We’ve got great organizations in this county that are doing everything they can do,” Van Fleet said. “All the agencies are collaborating with each other.”

He listed United Way, FiveCap, Echo His Love, the Manistee County Council on Aging, the Manistee Friendship Society and Staircase Youth Services Manistee County, among others.  “But when their coffers are low, their help stops, but the issues don’t stop,” Van Fleet said. 

He pointed to the efforts of the organizations, local donors and programs like the Manistee County Community Foundation to help residents. 

“Look at the success of the community foundation over the last 15 years and that mirrors how strong the caring power of Manistee County is. Of course, that is our mission,” Van Fleet said. “Our mission at United Way is to mobilize the caring power of Manistee.”

United Way of Manistee County provided assistance to more than 15,000 residents in 2024 in a number ways like housing, home furnishings after fires, a prescription discount program and food donations. Last year, the nonprofit reported 13,200 people were helped through Feeding America food trucks outside of the city of Manistee. 

“If we can help somebody with food, and they can lower their food bills, then we hope we can also counsel them to take the money they saved on food and pay their light bill, or their heating bill or insurance bill,” he said. 

He said the first place to start when someone in Manistee County needs help is to make a phone call to 211. Michigan 211 is a free service connecting residents with help and answers from thousands of local health and human services agencies and resources "quickly, easily and confidentially."

“We just have to have a sense of help and morality so that everybody in Manistee can make it,” Van Fleet said. “They won’t all make it at the level of a millionaire, but if we all work together, we can all make it.”

ALICE: Asset limited, income constrained, employed

Manistee County areas and the percentage of households below the Alice threshold, per the latest 2022 data.

Cleon Township — 66%

Springdale Township — 59%    

Maple Grove Township — 56%

Dickson Township — 53%

Marilla Township — 51%

Brown Township — 48%

City of Manistee — 48%

Norman township — 48%    

Manistee township — 47%

Onekama Township — 43%    

Pleasanton Township — 42%    

Bear Lake Township — 41%

Filer charter Township — 40%

Stronach Township — 36%

Arcadia Township — 34%

Original article can be found here: https://www.manisteenews.com/news/article/manistee-county-households-financial-struggle-19983350.php