The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported that a mandatory census carried out in January accounted for more than 770,000 homeless individuals across the nation. A substantial increase of 18.1% in the homelessness rate was observed in the past year. This staggering rise is attributed mainly to the unavailability of inexpensive accommodation, devastating climatic events, and a sudden increase in migration volume in various districts. This was the conclusion drawn from federal analysis and reported on a recent Friday.
Data released by HUD clarified that the nationwide surveys during the initial month of the year estimated more than 770,000 people having no homes. Interestingly, this number does not include those who are currently residing with acquaintances or relatives due to the lack of personal shelter. This insight suggests that the actual magnitude of the issue might still be unascertained.
The upturn of this year follows a preceding 12% surge in homeless rates in 2023 that HUD connected to the inflation of rental charges and cessation of aids related to the pandemic. One noteworthy element of the 2023 homelessness increase was the significant proportion of people encountering homelessness for the first time.
Presently, every set of 10,000 individuals in the U.S. includes about 23 homeless people, and the crisis appears to disproportionately affect the Black population more than other demographics. Among the alarming trends, the almost 40% increment in homelessness involving families seemed particularly grave. This sub-category was substantially impacted by an influx of migrants in major urban centres.
In communities severely impacted by immigration, such as Denver, Chicago, and New York City, the rate of family homelessness more than doubled according to HUD’s reports. On the contrary, this figure ascended by less than 8% in the remaining 373 communities under observation.
In a single night in 2024, nearly 150,000 children confronted homelessness, resulting in a 33% increase from the previous year. An additional factor contributing to the surge in homelessness was the natural disasters that ravaged different parts of the nation. Illustratively, 2024’s catastrophic Maui wildfire in Hawaii – the deadliest wildfire recorded in US in over a century – exacerbated the homelessness situation substantially.
On the night when the Maui wildfire occurred, over 5,200 persons sought refuge in emergency shelters as their homes were decimated. These challenging scenarios exist while more communities are adopting stringent policies against homelessness.
Despite the overarching negative trends, there was a continued decline in homelessness among veterans. In 2024, the count of homeless veterans dwindled by 8% to 32,882 making it one of the positive outliers in the otherwise increasingly grim view of homelessness in the United States.
Some major cities achieved significant reductions in homeless population. Notably, Dallas observed a 16% decrease in homeless numbers from 2022 to 2024 in line with its transformation of its provision of care for the homeless. Moreover, Los Angeles, by amplifying its accommodation capacity for the homeless, witnessed a 5% decline in unsheltered homeless population since 2023.
Despite these decreases, California, the state with the highest populace in America, continued to house the country’s greatest count of homeless individuals. Other states following California in size of homeless population were New York, Washington, Florida, and Massachusetts.
The drastic augmentation of the homeless population in the last two years is greatly at odds with the success the country had been realizing over the past decade or so. For over ten years, a consistent downward trend was observed in homeless counts driven by focused governmental efforts and amplified investment in housing solutions, especially for veterans.
This decade-long effort significantly reduced the homeless population from approximately 637,000 in 2010 to nearly 554,000 people in 2017. However, the count increased mildly to around 580,000 individuals in the 2020 census, holding steady for the two following years before the recent sharp rises observed.