The U.S. hit its highest reported level of homelessness this year, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), after seeing a 12 percent increase from last year.
Some 653,000 Americans were homeless when the point-in-time survey was conducted earlier this year, the most since the survey began in 2007. In the first decade the survey was performed, homelessness in the U.S. steadily decreased from 637,000 in 2007 to 554,000 in 2017, thanks to investments in housing veterans.
The numbers jumped to 580,000 in 2020 and largely remained steady due to Covid-19 pandemic relief programs.
Jeff Olivet, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, told the Wall Street Journal that the pandemic-era assistance “held off the rise in homelessness that we are now seeing,”
“While numerous factors drive homelessness, the most significant causes are the shortage of affordable homes and the high cost of housing that have left many Americans living paycheck to paycheck and one crisis away from homelessness,” Olivet said.
“A challenging rental market with historically low vacancy rates, expiring pandemic era housing programs, and an increase in people experiencing homelessness for the first time contributed to the increase in homelessness [in 2023],” said Marion McFadden, HUD’s principal deputy assistant secretary for community planning and development.
Homelessness among individuals rose almost 11 percent in 2023, while homelessness among families with children was up by 15.5 percent. Among veterans, homelessness increased 7.4 percent.
More than half of homeless individuals were concentrated in just four states: California, New York, Florida, and Washington. California is home to 28 percent of the country’s homeless population. However, the state saw an increase in homelessness at just half the national rate this year, while New York’s homelessness jumped more than three times the national rate.
The Empire State, as well as New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Colorado, saw the most significant increase in homelessness.
Still, some communities saw a decrease in homelessness this year, including Chattanooga, Tenn., which saw a 49 percent decrease from the year prior. The city focused on quickly connecting people with permanent housing and increased its efforts to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place, according to the Associated Press.