Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The continued rise in homelessness in the United States is largely due to a lack of affordable housing, experts say.
The number of people living in homelessness in the United States has increased by 18 percent in the past year, according to a new report by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
Published data on Friday showed that more than 771,000 people were homeless across the country, according to an annual count carried out overnight in January 2024.
The figure — which HUD says is the highest ever recorded — includes people staying in emergency shelters, safe havens, transitional housing or in unsheltered locations across the US.
This does not include those living in some other forms of housing instability, such as people staying with a friend or family member because they do not have their own shelter.
“Our worsening national affordable housing crisis, rising inflation, stagnant wages among middle- and lower-income households, and the continuing effects of systemic racism have stretched homeless service systems to their limits,” the department's report (PDF) reads.
Homelessness has been on the rise in the US for years, driven in large part by lack of affordable housing options in cities across the country. In data released last year, HUD found that homelessness increased by 12 percent in 2023. compared to the previous year.
Scattered tent cities and encampments have also sprung up in many US cities amid rising homelessness rates.
While some cities have stepped up programs aimed at getting people off the streets and into shelters or temporary housing, others have imposed draconian measures that critics say have penalized or even criminalized homelessness.
One of the most troubling findings in Friday's HUD report is the significant increase in the number of children experiencing homelessness.
Nearly 150,000 children were homeless in the U.S. this year, the department said, a 33 percent increase from 2023.
“Between 2023 and 2024 children (under the age of 18) are the age group that has experienced the greatest increase in homelessness,” the report said.
While the report primarily attributed the overall increase in homelessness to a lack of affordable housing, HUD said other factors also played a role, including natural disasters such as Wildfire in Maui who drove people from their homes.
Ann increase in migrants shelter stays in major US cities, including New York, Denver and Chicago, also contributed to the increase, as did benefit lapses and protective rules aims to help people keep their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition said Friday's report underscores “the urgent need for policymakers to invest in proven solutions to the affordable housing crisis and homelessness.”
“The increase in homelessness is the tragic but predictable consequence of underinvesting in the resources and protections that help people find and maintain safe, affordable housing,” said Renee Willis, the group's incoming interim executive director at statement.
“As advocates, researchers and first-hand people have warned, the number of people experiencing homelessness continues to rise as more people struggle to afford skyrocketing housing costs.”
