Homelessness in the United States

The official homeless population counts by state, 2019
The statewide homelessness population rates as compared with the national U.S. homelessness rate (0.17% or 171 persons per 100,000) in 2019.[1][2] Of the 9 states (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington) and the District of Columbia that have homelessness rates higher than the United States as a whole, only Vermont did not have median gross rents higher than the United States as a whole in the 2015–2019 American Community Survey 5-year estimates.
A homeless woman in Washington, D.C., 2006
A homeless man sleeping across the street from the Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver, 2018

In the United States, the number of homeless people on a given night in January 2023 was more than 650,000 according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.[3] Homelessness has increased in recent years, in large part due to an increasingly severe housing shortage and rising home prices in the United States.[4][5]

Historically, homelessness emerged as a national issue in the 1870s.[6] Early homeless people lived in emerging urban cities, such as New York City. Into the 20th century, the Great Depression of the 1930s caused a substantial rise in homelessness. In 1990, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the homeless population of to be 228,621, or 0.09% of the 248,709,873 enumerated in the 1990 U.S. census, which homelessness advocates criticized as an undercount.[7][8][9] In the 21st century, the Great Recession of the late 2000s and the resulting economic stagnation and downturn have been major driving factors and contributors to rising homelessness rates.

The main contributor to homelessness is a lack of housing supply and rising home values.[4][10][11] Interpersonal and individual factors, such as mental illness and addiction, also play a role in explaining homelessness.[10][11] However, mental illness and addiction play a weaker role than structural socio-economic factors, as West Coast cities such as Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles have homelessness rates five times that of areas with much lower housing costs like Arkansas, West Virginia, and Detroit, even though the latter locations have high burdens of opioid addiction and poverty.[11][12]

Health complications are significant concern for homeless people, as lack of residence inhibits hygiene and access to healthy food,[13][14] and exposes individuals to both cold and heat stress. This contributes to increased mortality rates.[15]

Most homeless people lived in California, New York, Florida, and Washington in 2022, according to the annual Homeless Assessment Report.[16] Increases in homelessness broke records in 2022 and in 2023.[17][18][19] In 2023, record levels of homelessness have been declared in Los Angeles and New York City, and other cities around the country have reported increased levels of homelessness, with the main drivers being a shortage of affordable housing and the increased cost of living.[5][19]

In City of Grants Pass v. Johnson (2024), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that anti-camping laws do not constitute a cruel and unusual punishment under the 8th Amendment even when no shelter is available, allowing cities to jail and fine homeless populations for sleeping and camping outside.[20][21]

  1. ^ "Homelessness Statistics by State – United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH)". United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  2. ^ Annual Population Estimates Program Estimates (Report). Population Estimates Program. United States Census Bureau. 2019. Archived from the original on December 30, 2019. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  3. ^ Ludden, Jennifer (December 15, 2023). "Homelessness in the U.S. hit a record high last year as pandemic aid ran out". NPR. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  4. ^ a b "Housing is now unaffordable for a record half of all U.S. renters, study finds". NPR. 2024.
  5. ^ a b Ludden, Jennifer (July 12, 2023). "Why can't we stop homelessness? 4 reasons why there's no end in sight". NPR. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  6. ^ Kusmer, Kenneth (2002). Down And Out, On the Road: The Homeless in American History. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
  7. ^ Navarro, Mireya (March 21, 1990). "Census Peers Into Corners to Count Homeless". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  8. ^ Fulwood III, Sam (April 13, 1991). "Census Workers Count 228,621 Homeless Across U.S." Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  9. ^ "1990 Fast Facts - History - U.S. Census Bureau". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on March 21, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  10. ^ a b Fowler, Patrick J.; Hovmand, Peter S.; Marcal, Katherine E.; Das, Sanmay (April 1, 2019). "Solving Homelessness from a Complex Systems Perspective: Insights for Prevention Responses". Annual Review of Public Health. 40: 465–486. doi:10.1146/annurev-publhealth-040617-013553. ISSN 0163-7525. PMC 6445694. PMID 30601718.
  11. ^ a b c Colburn, Gregg (2022). Homelessness is a housing problem: how structural factors explain U.S. patterns. Clayton Page Aldern. Oakland, California. ISBN 978-0-520-38376-0. OCLC 1267404765. Archived from the original on February 22, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2022.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  12. ^ Demsas, Jerusalem (December 12, 2022). "The Obvious Answer to Homelessness". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  13. ^ Buechler, Connor R.; Ukani, Anita; Elsharawi, Radwa; Gable, Jessica; Petersen, Anneliese; Franklin, Michael; Chung, Raymond; Bell, Jedidiah; Manly, Amanda; Hefzi, Nousha; Carpenter, Dean; Bryce, Richard (March 26, 2020). "Barriers, beliefs, and practices regarding hygiene and vaccination among the homeless during a hepatitis A outbreak in Detroit, MI". Heliyon. 6 (3): e03474. Bibcode:2020Heliy...603474B. doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03474. ISSN 2405-8440. PMC 7109626. PMID 32258449.
  14. ^ Wiecha, J L; Dwyer, J T; Dunn-Strohecker, M (1991). "Nutrition and health services needs among the homeless". Public Health Reports. 106 (4): 364–374. ISSN 0033-3549. PMC 1580272. PMID 1908587.
  15. ^ Romaszko, Jerzy; Cymes, Iwona; Dragańska, Ewa; Kuchta, Robert; Glińska-Lewczuk, Katarzyna (December 21, 2017). "Mortality among the homeless: Causes and meteorological relationships". PLOS ONE. 12 (12): e0189938. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1289938R. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0189938. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5739436. PMID 29267330.
  16. ^ Haines, Julia. "States With the Largest Homeless Populations". us news.
  17. ^ "U.S. Homelessness Up 11% This Year, a Record Increase". The Wall Street Journal. August 14, 2023. Retrieved September 15, 2023. Data reviewed by the Wall Street Journal shows homelessness is up about 11% from 2022. It's by far the biggest recorded increase since the government started tracking comparable numbers in 2007. The most significant driver remains high housing costs, as well as a lack of affordable rental units.
  18. ^ Ludden, Jennifer (December 15, 2023). "Homelessness in the U.S. hit a record high last year as pandemic aid ran out". NPR. Retrieved December 15, 2023.
  19. ^ a b Thornton, Claire (December 15, 2023). "The number of homeless people in America grew in 2023 as high cost of living took a toll". USA Today. Retrieved January 7, 2024. Tens of thousands more people in the U.S. were homeless in 2023 compared with 2022 as high costs of living pushed some of the most vulnerable Americans into shelters and the streets. Homelessness shot up by more than 12% this year, reaching 653,104 people.
  20. ^ Levin, Sam (June 29, 2024). "'Terrifying and dystopian': the dark realities of the supreme court's homelessness decision". The Guardian. Retrieved June 30, 2024. The 6-3 ruling is the most consequential legal decision on homelessness in decades in the US.
  21. ^ City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, No. 23-175, 603 U.S. ___ (2024)