Statistics and Research
Information shared on The Coalition to End Homelessness website is informed by unbiased credible data. Much of the information available online is based on the perspective of one person.
We recommend academic articles whose research methods seek to avoid bias, and trustworthy organizations such as the National Coalition for the Homeless, The National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, The National Low Income Housing Coalition, Healthcare for the Homeless, WRAP, Schoolhouse Connection.
No data is perfect, because there has not been sufficient research conducted on the condition of homelessness. Program data is information captured by HUD and other agencies. We understand you may need to reference some of these sources. We recommend that any serious scholar avoid program data which is always biased data.
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FAQs:
What is homelessness?
There are many definitions, some of which are listed on the tab defining homelessness. A quick definition provided by the Homeless Hub defines homelessness as “an extreme form of poverty characterized by the instability and inadequacy of income.”
SOURCES & FOOTNOTES
Homeless Hub. (n.d.). What is homelessness? https://www.homelesshub.ca
Why don’t people use the word ‘homeless’ as often?
Several advocates, including those experiencing homelessness, argue that being called homeless leaves them with less dignity and they prefer other terms when possible. Some suggestions include “unsheltered”, or more neutral details such as “the man with the blue sweater”, rather than calling attention to the indignity of homelessness.
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Are there different types of homelessness?
Anyone who lacks a fixed, regular, safe, and accessible dwelling is technically homeless. Keeping in mind that homelessness is a condition, not a personal attribute, CTEH does not categorize people by “types” of homelessness.
We keep it simple: housing is the solution for all people lacking shelter. Homelessness occurs when a person cannot afford housing. Once housing is lost, deterioration happens quickly. This does not mean that personal issues cause homelessness, but instead, homelessness adds on to existing problems.
How many people are homeless?
The very nature of living without shelter makes it impossible to accurately count those that do. Several things complicate this:
- Most people live without shelter for a short period of time, sometimes days or weeks.
- People without shelter often feel ashamed about their lack of housing and worry about being bothered while sleeping, so they seek places where they are less likely to be found or disturbed.
- Nearly all methods of counting those without shelter depend upon people accessing some kind of service for those experiencing homelessness. However, many people never access those services.
- There are several different ways of counting the experience of homelessness. The broadest one is how many people have experienced the condition of homelessness during their lifetimes. This could be as high as 25% of Americans. The next broadest category, which was once used by HUD, is how many Americans experience homelessness in any given year.
Today, the government counts how many people experience homelessness on any given day. HUD does that by reporting the population living in emergency shelters.
This creates a couple of major issues. First, an emergency shelter bed may be occupied by many different individuals over the course of the year, but only one person is counted.
Second, the vast majority of those without shelter do not stay in emergency shelters. Therefore the published government count of those without housing is extremely low and greatly underestimates the condition of homelessness in America.
Also, It is impossible to know for sure how many people experience homelessness because the condition carries a lot of shame, and many people rarely share this information. Estimates vary depending on methodology and time frame used. Our best framed data comes from studies such as the Link study (Link et al., 2011) which provide lifetime and five-year prevalence estimates:
Lifetime prevalence: 14.0% of adults in the U.S. (26 million people) have experienced some form of homelessness
Five-year prevalence: 4.6% of adults (8.5 million people) reported homelessness in the previous five years
Literal homelessness: 7.4% (13.5 million people) have experienced sleeping in shelters, abandoned buildings, or public places
Five-year prevalence of literal homelessness: 3.1% (5.7 million people)
These numbers highlight that homelessness is far more widespread than most point-in-time counts suggest. Because prevalence depends on the definition used and the time period examined, it is necessary to present these estimates as approximations rather than exact figures.
The Link study provides a critical perspective by showing lifetime experiences, and not just those currently without shelter.
Reference (Link Study): Link, B. G., Susser, E., Stueve, A., Phelan, J., Moore, R. E., & Struening, E. (2011). Lifetime and five-year prevalence of homelessness in the United States. American Journal of Public Health, Published online October 7, 2011.
Why do people become and stay homeless for a long time?
For most people, any period without housing is short. The majority of people experience only a brief period without housing. However, every person is different so there is no definitive answer that can explain the experience of everyone.
How do people experiencing homelessness survive?
Most people experiencing the condition of homelessness work, and often have more than one job. It is no longer possible to afford housing in South Florida and in most big cities unless you earn a high income.
People who are homeless work with what they have and seek help when possible. To get the necessities and support they need, they try to get in touch with friends, family, or organizations in their community. Many of them visit churches, food banks, and local shelters. The Transgender Empowerment Organization states that people going through homelessness do their best to limit their expenses and “try not to spend it on anything unless it will feed, hydrate, or house you.” Some people choose to sleep in tents, cars, or safe public areas. They tend to go for cheaper foods like ramen, peanut butter, and canned products. Also, they try to make money by working jobs such as car washing or selling items.
SOURCES & FOOTNOTES
Transgender Empowerment Organization. (n.d.). Guide to surviving homelessness.
https://transempowerment.org/trans-faq/guide-to-surviving-homelessness/
What are the health impacts of homelessness?
The Canadian Medical Association Journal states that people experiencing homelessness have a high risk of health issues such as psychiatric illness, physical and mental disabilities, drug and alcohol addiction, and infectious diseases like tuberculosis. Their rates of chronic diseases, including diabetes and HIV, are a lot higher than the rest of the population.
Health problems and homelessness are correlated, meaning they often occur together. This does not mean health problems cause homelessness. There is no credible evidence showing that poor health causes the condition of homelessness. It is far more likely that living without shelter causes worse health outcomes.
SOURCES & FOOTNOTES
Canadian Medical Association Journal. (2007). Homelessness and health. CMAJ, 177(9), 1065–1066.
What are common solutions for homelessness?
There are two solutions to homelessness:
- Prevention
Not only is prevention more cost effective, it has the best outcomes of any intervention. Helping people avoid homelessness makes a huge difference. By preventing the trauma and stigma of homelessness, people work much harder to avoid ever facing this again. - Housing
Without housing, mental health and substance use will continue to deteriorate. As Maslow’s Hierarchy demonstrates, there is no point in focusing on anything else until a person is housed and their basic needs are met.
According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, “housing is one of the most critical factors in addressing homelessness.” Stable housing, such as tiny home villages, temporary housing through hospitals, and programs that help families quickly move into homes, can all be common solutions to homelessness.
SOURCES & FOOTNOTES
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. (2021). Housing as a critical factor in addressing homelessness. IJERPH, 18(21), 11660.
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/21/11660
How can I help people experiencing homelessness?
- Do no harm
Do not stigmatize or discriminate. Teach others how harmful these behaviors are. - Instead
Contribute what you can, whether it’s time, money, skills, advocacy, education, or connection. Help dispel myths. Work with service providers, advocacy organizations, and people with lived experience. - And Educate Yourself
Learn more by talking to those who experience homelessness makes, attend one of our training sessions, and research the issue on the web. We also encourage you to review our common cognitive biases and how those separate us from one another.
And why does advocacy and education matter?
Public misunderstanding drives harmful policies. Education changes perception, perception shapes policy, and policy determines outcomes.
Myth vs. Fact
Housing
Affordable housing is very hard to find for many people, and the data clearly shows how severe the affordability gap has become.
According to the National Low Income Coalition’s Out of Reach 2025 report, a full-time worker in the U.S. must earn $33.63 per hour to afford a modest two-bedroom rental home and $28.17 per hour to afford a modest one-bedroom rental home at fair market rent.
These required wages are far above the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour and exceed what most renters actually earn. In fact, there is no state, metropolitan area, or county in the U.S. where a person working full-time at minimum wage can afford a modest two-bedroom rental without spending more than 30% of their income on housing.
This growing gap between wages and housing costs is a major economic driver of homelessness.
Poverty
The escalating cost of living means that even middle-class people are forced to make hard decisions about what they can and cannot afford. For low-income individuals and families, the cost of housing is just too steep.
It’s not that people choose to give up housing instead of food or healthcare — most people prioritize housing and go without other basic needs to try to remain housed.
However, when housing costs exceed income, homelessness becomes unavoidable. This highlights the fundamentally economic nature of homelessness.
Domestic Violence
Mental Illnesses, Disabilities, & Substance Use
Problems such as mental illness, disability, and substance abuse are often identified as causes of homelessness, but this is not true because many people experience the above issues but are able to live in their homes because of their income, medical care, or assistance.
Becoming homeless can make these problems worse due to the effects of living on the streets, including the lack of safety and security that comes from not having a stable place to rest.
Recent Statistics
Dramatic Increases in Family and Youth Homelessness
A broader measure of housing insecurity, which is not included in the official street/shelter count, found that 1.4 million children and youth were identified as experiencing homelessness by public schools during the 2022-2023 school year.
SOURCE & FOOTNOTES
SchoolHouse Connection (2025). Data Show Dramatic Increases in Family and Youth Homelessness.
US cities with largest homeless populations
Geographic Concentration: As of the 2024 count, more than half (54%) of the nation’s homeless population were located in the Continuums of Care (local planning bodies) that contain the 50 largest cities in the United States.
SOURCE & FOOTNOTES
USAFacts (2025). Which US cities have the largest homeless populations?
2024 Annual HUD Homeless Assessment Report
Divergent Trends: While homelessness among veterans has declined 55% since 2009 due to targeted resources, chronic homelessness (long-term, disabled individuals) reached its highest recorded level in 2024.
SOURCE & FOOTNOTES
National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC). (2025). HUD Releases 2024 Annual Homeless Assessment Report.
Local Prevention Costs
Local Prevention Costs: A local homeless coalition in Houston, Texas, stated that an estimated minimum of $50 million per year (beyond federal funds) was necessary to maintain their prevention efforts and keep the homeless population from rising significantly in 2026.
SOURCE & FOOTNOTES
Kinder Institute for Urban Research. (2025). Advocates for the homeless set for Houston’s annual count with funding, plan of action in flux.
Global Homelessness Statistics
- An estimated 150 million individuals, or 2% of the global population, are homeless.
- 1.6 billion people, or more than 20% of the world’s population, might not have access to suitable housing.
SOURCES & FOOTNOTES
Backpack Bed for Homeless. (n.d.). World Homelessness Day: Global homelessness statistics.
https://backpackbed.org/us/world-homelessness-day/
