Homelessness in the United States has increased by 18% while affordable housing remains out of reach for many people

The United States has seen an 18.1% increase in the number of homeless people this year, a dramatic increase driven primarily by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a influx of migrants in several parts of the country, federal officials announced Friday.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said counts conducted across the country in January, required by the federal government, found that more than 770,000 people were considered homeless — a figure that misses some people and n does not include those who stay with friends or family because they do not have a place to live. a place of their own.

This increase is added to a Increase of 12% in 2023which HUD blamed on soaring rents and the end of pandemic aid. The 2023 increase is also due to people experiencing homelessness for the first time. The overall figures represent 23 out of every 10,000 people in the United States, with black people overrepresented among the homeless population.

“No American should face homelessness, and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that every family has access to the affordable, safe, quality housing they deserve,” said Adrianne Todman, director of the HUD agency, in a statement, adding that the focus should remain on “evidence-based efforts to prevent and end homelessness.”

One of the most worrying trends was the almost 40% increase in family homelessness – one of the areas most affected by the arrival of migrants. migrants in big cities. According to HUD, family homelessness more than doubled in 13 migrant-impacted communities, including Denver, Chicago and New York, while it increased by less than 8 percent in the remaining 373 communities. Nearly 150,000 children were left homeless in a single night in 2024, a 33% increase from last year.

Disasters have also played a role in the increase in the number of disasters, particularly last year’s catastrophic Maui fire, the The deadliest wildfire in the United States in more than a century. More than 5,200 people were staying in emergency shelters in Hawaii the night of the count.

“Increased homelessness is the tragic, but predictable, consequence of underinvestment in the resources and protections that help people find and maintain safe, affordable housing,” Renee Willis, new interim CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, in a press release. “As advocates, researchers, and people with lived experience have warned, the number of people experiencing homelessness continues to rise as more people struggle to afford exorbitant housing costs. »

Robert Marbut Jr., former executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness from 2019 to 2021, called the nearly 33% increase in the number of homeless people over the past four years “shameful” and said said the federal government should abandon its efforts to prioritize permanent housing. .

“We need to focus on treating addiction and mental illness and reinstating program requirements, such as job training,” Marbut said in an email.

The numbers are also increasing number of communities take a hard line against homelessness.

Communities – particularly in Western states – have imposed camping bans as public pressure increases to address what some residents consider unsafe and unsanitary living conditions. This follows a 6-3 decision earlier this year by the Supreme Court which concluded that outdoor sleeping bans do not violate the Eighth Amendment. Homeless advocates argued that punishing people who need a place to sleep would criminalize homelessness.

There was some positive news in the count, as homeless among veterans continued to follow a downward trend. Veteran homelessness fell 8% to 32,882 in 2024. This is an even larger decrease for homeless veterans, down 11% to 13,851 in 2024.

“Reducing the number of formerly homeless people gives us a clear road map to address homelessness on a larger scale,” said Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, in a press release. “With bipartisan support, adequate funding and smart policy solutions, we can replicate this success and reduce homelessness nationally.” Federal investments are essential to combating the nation’s housing affordability crisis and ensuring that every American has access to safe and stable housing.

Several large cities have managed to reduce the number of homeless people. Dallas, which has worked to overhaul its homeless system, saw its numbers drop 16% between 2022 and 2024. Los Angeles, which increased housing for homeless people, saw a drop of 5% of homelessness since 2023. California, the most populous This state in the United States continues to have the largest homeless population in the country, followed by New York, Washington, Florida and Massachusetts.

The sharp increase in the homeless population over the past two years contrasts with the success the United States has enjoyed for more than a decade.

Going back to the first survey in 2007, the United States has made steady progress for about a decade in reducing the homeless population, with the government particularly focused on increasing investments to enable veterans to access housing. The number of homeless people increased from around 637,000 in 2010 to around 554,000 in 2017.

The numbers reached about 580,000 in the 2020 count and remained relatively stable over the next two years as Congress responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with emergency rental assistancestimulus payments, aid to states and local governments and a temporary moratorium on evictions.

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This story has been updated to correct that the Supreme Court’s ruling that banning outdoor sleeping does not violate the Eighth Amendment was issued this year, not last year.