2024 Ottawa County Community Assessment

Feb 28

This assessment is more than just data—it’s a roadmap to action. It helps us identify gaps, align resources, and work toward a future where every person in our community has the opportunity to thrive.

Download Full Assessment (PDF)

To understand where we go from here, we first need to understand who in our community is struggling—and why. That brings us to ALICE, a term that helps define the reality faced by thousands of working households in Ottawa County.

So, who is ALICE?

(ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.

These are individuals and families who are working—often in essential jobs—but still struggle to afford the basics. They earn too much to qualify for many assistance programs, yet not enough to reach financial stability.They are the people who keep our community running—childcare providers, retail workers, home health aides, and service industry professionals. Despite their hard work, many are just one unexpected expense away from crisis.

Financial hardship doesn’t affect all households the same way. Some groups face greater barriers to economic stability, making it even harder to get ahead. In Ottawa County, ALICE households make up:

43% of all Hispanic households

65% of all Black households

62% of all households led by someone under age 25

70% of all households led by a single mother

To understand what ALICE households are up against, we need to look at the actual cost of living in our community.

The ALICE Household Survival Budget estimates the absolute minimum a household needs to cover necessities, including housing, food, childcare, healthcare, technology, and transportation. This budget is not about getting ahead, it’s about getting by. It does not include savings for emergencies, retirement, or future financial stability.

Here’s what it takes to meet basic needs in Ottawa County:

30% of single adults with no children are ALICE and they need at least $30,000 per year just to afford the essentials.

51% of senior couples are struggling and need $53,500 per year to cover their basic needs.

70% of single mothers and 45% of single fathers with one child in childcare need nearly $50,000 per year just to get by.

Data Highlights

WELCOMING COMMUNITIES

In 2021, for the first time, United Way’s Key Stakeholders rated “Welcoming Communities” as a top 5 issue of concern.

Of those who participated in the 2024 United Way Household survey…

Just over 61% said their community is inclusive or welcoming. This is down nearly 7% for both men and women respondents, and Hispanic respondents had the largest decrease at 30%
84% of respondents said they feel included or welcomed in their community. This is an overall decrease of 2%, however those between the ages of 18-34 show a 10% decrease.
77% of respondents stated they feel respected or valued in their community. This is a decrease of 4%.

ADVERSE CHILD EXPERIENCES (ACEs)

Adverse Childhood Experiences or ACEs can include things like having a parent who is incarcerated, witnessing domestic violence, having a parent with a substance use disorder, or experiencing sexual, physical or emotional abuse.

According to the 2023 Ottawa County Community Health Needs Assessment, over 65% of adults have had at least 1 adverse childhood experience, and 23.3% have suffered four or more. Those most likely to report four or more experiences are younger than 55, have no college degree and an income of less than $20k a year.

EDUCATION

According to the KIDS Count Data Center we know children aged 0–5 continues to decrease in our county down to 20,064.

We also know that approximately 71% of parents with children aged 0–5 are all in the workforce.

According to Great Start the capacity of our child care providers is 16,843 which gives us a gap of approximately 3,200 child care slots. This could be a barrier for the ALICE families in our community.

K-12 EDUCATION

Students are assessed at 3rd and 8th grades in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math. By 8th grade we can see that students as a whole are 47.7% proficient in math and 76.6% in ELA.

For students who are economically disadvantaged proficiency rates drop to 28.3% in math and 61.5% in ELA.

POST SECONDARY EXPERIENCES AND EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

According to Michigan College Access Network a senior who completes the FAFSA is 84% more likely to enroll in postsecondary education. Completion rate in Ottawa County has gone down to 55% in 2023 from 59% in 2022. This is less than the state of Michigan’s goal of 75% completion rate.

According to the 2023 American Community Survey nearly 30% of adults 25 years and older have a high school degree or less. 25% only have a high school degree and 5.5% have a high school education, but they do not have a high school degree.

FINACIAL STABILITY

In West Michigan many of the in-demand jobs require some type of postsecondary training or education.

What is the main thing keeping residents from getting the type of job they want?

Of the people participating in our survey…

20% said they can’t find a better job or need new skills or training

9% can’t take time off

4% don’t want to lose or jeopardize their benefits.

Affordable housing is a top need for residents in our community.

70% of United Way’s Key Stakeholders state Affordable and safe housing is the top issue in Ottawa County.

“Housing is a fundamental need for all and it’s challenging to acquire housing given the low availability of affordable options in our community.” –United Way Stakeholder

According to United Ways’s 2024 household survey, one respondent stated that they “worry about running out of money for housing” and indicated that their rent has gone up $650 a month during the last 4 years. To put that into perspective, if someone was paying $800/month 4 years ago, they could be paying $1450/month now. That is a SIGNIFICANT and impactful increase to someone living on a limited budget.

Our ALICE families continue to struggle and are using many different methods to make ends meet, such as: cash advance services, exceeding the limit on their credit cards, overdrawing accounts, or using rent-to-own stores.

The number of respondents who have been over the limit on their credit card has increased from 3.5% in 2018 to 9.8% in 2024. While 9.8% seems like a small percentage it equates to over 11,000 households and nearly 23,000 individuals.

Top Health Concerns

The top priorities for United Way’s Key Stakeholders and the 2023 CHNA both include Mental Health. In fact, mental health has been the #1 or #2 priority since 2017.

According to the 2023 Behavioral Risk Factor Survey, Poor Mental Health has doubled since 2011.

Anxiety and Depression have increased by 11% and just over 5% respectively

Anxiety and Depression are most prevalent in

women
those with less than a high school education
those with lower income levels.

Health care access

Access to health care was reported as the #2 priority which is up from #4 in 2021. Of the adults aged 18-64 who completed the survey; 7% have no health insurance, and men are more likely to lack health insurance. 17.5% of underserved adults do not have health insurance at all, and half of the underserved adults have Medicaid.

Indicators measuring access to health care are worse among non-white adults. The number of non-white individuals without a dental cleaning in the past year is 4x the number of white individuals. Those with no health care access due to cost or no personal health care provider is 3x higher in non-white individuals compared to white individuals.

BASIC NEEDS

Through 2-1-1, a free service that connects residents to community resources, we know that housing is the top service request and has been since 2021. Housing was also the highest unmet need in 2023.

2023 Top Services Requested

#1 Housing
#2 Utility Assistance
#3 Income Support/Assistance
#4 Food/Meals
#5 Clothing/Personal/Household Needs

Homelessness in Ottawa County

The Point in Time data tells us that the number of unsheltered individuals nearly doubled from 48 in 2023 to 95 in January of 2024.

Based on the continuum of care analysis through the homeless management information system, there are three demographic groups that experience disproportionately higher rates of homelessness. Black households are 10 times more likely, Native Americans are 3 times more likely, and Hispanic households are 1.6 times more likely to experience homelessness.

In the 2023-2024 school year, the OAISD reported a total count of 805 youth experiencing homelessness. In the 2023 Youth Assessment Survey, 139 students answered that they were without a place to stay in the past 12 months; 43% said they ran away or were “kicked out” of their home and 13% said their family was without a place to stay.

Meal Gap tool for 2022 says there are 32,270 people who are food-insecure in Ottawa County–indicated by the red dots in the image above.

In addition, the 2023 Youth Assessment Survey shows that 445 students state that they sometimes, most of the time or always went hungry in the past 30 days because there was not enough food in their home. Minority teens are 1.5x more likely than white teens to go hungry.

This assessment has given us a clear, data-driven understanding of the challenges so many in our community are facing. But as we all know, data alone doesn’t change lives—action does.

At Heart of West Michigan United Way, we are not just presenting these findings—we are using them to drive solutions and guide our investments in the areas that will have the greatest impact.

This means:

Aligning our funding and partnerships to address the area’s most pressing needs
Expanding our work in Healthy Community, Youth Opportunity, Financial Security, and Community Resiliency to ensure we are tackling the root causes of financial hardship.
Convening partners across Allegan, Kent, and Ottawa counties to collaborate on bold, community-driven solutions that move people toward stability.