In 2023, there were about 653,104 homeless people estimated to be living in the United States, the highest number of homeless people recorded within the provided time period. In comparison, the second-highest number of homeless people living in the U.S. within this time period was in 2007, at 647,258. How is homelessness calculated? Calculating homelessness is complicated for several different reasons. For one, it is challenging to determine how many people are homeless as there is no direct definition for homelessness. Additionally, it is difficult to try and find every single homeless person that exists. Sometimes they cannot be reached, leaving people unaccounted for. In the United States, the Department of Housing and Urban Development calculates the homeless population by counting the number of people on the streets and the number of people in homeless shelters on one night each year. According to this count, Los Angeles City and New York City are the cities with the most homeless people in the United States. Homelessness in the United States Between 2022 and 2023, New Hampshire saw the highest increase in the number of homeless people. However, California was the state with the highest number of homeless people, followed by New York and Florida. The vast amount of homelessness in California is a result of multiple factors, one of them being the extreme high cost of living, as well as opposition to mandatory mental health counseling and drug addiction. However, the District of Columbia had the highest estimated rate of homelessness per 10,000 people in 2023. This was followed by New York, Vermont, and Oregon.

When analyzing the ratio of homelessness to state population, New York, Vermont, and Oregon had the highest rates in 2023. However, Washington, D.C. had an estimated 73 homeless individuals per 10,000 people, which was significantly higher than any of the 50 states. Homeless people by race The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development performs homeless counts at the end of January each year, which includes people in both sheltered and unsheltered locations. The estimated number of homeless people increased to 653,104 in 2023 – the highest level since 2007. However, the true figure is likely to be much higher, as some individuals prefer to stay with family or friends - making it challenging to count the actual number of homeless people living in the country. In 2023, nearly half of the people experiencing homelessness were white, while the number of Black homeless people exceeded 243,000. How many veterans are homeless in America? The  number of homeless veterans in the United States has halved since 2010. The state of California, which is currently suffering a homeless crisis, accounted for the highest number of homeless veterans in 2022. There are many causes of homelessness among veterans of the U.S. military, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse problems, and a lack of affordable housing.

In 2023, there were an estimated 324,854 white homeless people in the United States, the most out of any ethnicity. In comparison, there were around 243,624 Black or African American homeless people in the U.S. How homelessness is counted The actual number of homeless individuals in the U.S. is difficult to measure. The Department of Housing and Urban Development uses point-in-time estimates, where employees and volunteers count both sheltered and unsheltered homeless people during the last 10 days of January. However, it is very likely that the actual number of homeless individuals is much higher than the estimates, which makes it difficult to say just how many homeless there are in the United States. Unsheltered homeless in the United States California is well-known in the U.S. for having a high homeless population, and Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego all have high proportions of unsheltered homeless people. While in many states, the Department of Housing and Urban Development says that there are more sheltered homeless people than unsheltered, this estimate is most likely in relation to the method of estimation.

See "About" for field info. This dataset tracks the homeless population in the downtown area.

In 2023, about 68.4 percent of the estimated number of homeless individuals in the United States were male, compared to 30 percent who were female.

Homelessness Report January 2025. Published by Department of Housing, Local Government, and Heritage. Available under the license Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 4.0 (CC-BY-SA-4.0).Homelessness data Official homelessness data is produced by local authorities through the Pathway Accommodation and Support System (PASS). PASS was rolled-out nationally during the course of 2013. The Department’s official homelessness statistics are published on a monthly basis and refer to the number of homeless persons accommodated in emergency accommodation funded and overseen by housing authorities during a specific count week, typically the last full week of the month. The reports are produced through the Pathway Accommodation & Support System (PASS), collated on a regional basis and compiled and published by the Department. Homelessness reporting commenced in this format in 2014. The format of the data may change or vary over time due to administrative and/or technology changes and improvements. The administration of homeless services is organised across nine administrative regions, with one local authority in each of the regions, “the lead authority”, having overall responsibility for the disbursement of Exchequer funding. In each region a Joint Homelessness Consultative Forum exists which includes representation from the relevant State and non-governmental organisations involved in the delivery of homeless services in a particular region. Delegated arrangements are governed by an annually agreed protocol between the Department and the lead authority in each region. These protocols set out the arrangements, responsibilities and financial/performance data reporting requirements for the delegation of funding from the Department. Under Sections 38 and 39 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 a statutory Management Group exists for each regional forum. This is comprised of representatives from the relevant housing authorities and the Health Service Executive, and it is the responsibility of the Management Group to consider issues around the need for homeless services and to plan for the implementation, funding and co-ordination of such services. In relation to the terms used in the report for the accommodation types see explanation below: PEA - Private Emergency Accommodation: this may include hotels, B&Bs and other residential facilities that are used on an emergency basis. Supports are provided to services users on a visiting supports basis. STA - Supported Temporary Accommodation: accommodation, including family hubs, hostels, with onsite professional support. TEA - Temporary Emergency Accommodation: emergency accommodation with no (or minimal) support....

"Ratio of Homeless Population to General Population in major US Cities in 2011. *This represents a list of large U.S. cities for which DHS was able to confirm a recent estimate of the unsheltered population. A 2011 result is available for Seattle, WA, Miami, FL, and Boston, MA.. 2011 results are not yet available for the other cities, and their 2009 data are displayed in this chart. General population figures are 2010 estimates in New York, San Francisco, and Chicago, and 2009 estimates elsewhere."

In 2023/24 approximately 64,960 households in England were accepted for main homeless duties, whereby the relevant local authority deemed the applicant to be unintentionally homeless and eligible for assistance. Before 2018/19 the figures are noticeably higher than this, with over 56,000 main duty acceptances in 2017/18, although this is due to the introduction of other statutory homeless duties in 2018/19.

Official homelessness data is produced by local authorities through the Pathway Accommodation and Support System (PASS). PASS was rolled-out nationally during the course of 2013. The Department’s official homelessness statistics are published on a monthly basis and refer to the number of homeless persons accommodated in emergency accommodation funded and overseen by housing authorities during a specific count week, typically the last full week of the month. The reports are produced through the Pathway Accommodation & Support System (PASS), collated on a regional basis and compiled and published by the Department. Homelessness reporting commenced in this format in 2014. The format of the data may change or vary over time due to administrative and/or technology changes and improvements. The administration of homeless services is organised across nine administrative regions, with one local authority in each of the regions, “the lead authority”, having overall responsibility for the disbursement of Exchequer funding. In each region a Joint Homelessness Consultative Forum exists which includes representation from the relevant State and non-governmental organisations involved in the delivery of homeless services in a particular region. Delegated arrangements are governed by an annually agreed protocol between the Department and the lead authority in each region. These protocols set out the arrangements, responsibilities and financial/performance data reporting requirements for the delegation of funding from the Department. Under Sections 38 and 39 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 a statutory Management Group exists for each regional forum. This is comprised of representatives from the relevant housing authorities and the Health Service Executive, and it is the responsibility of the Management Group to consider issues around the need for homeless services and to plan for the implementation, funding and co-ordination of such services. In relation to the terms used in the report for the accommodation types see explanation below: PEA - Private Emergency Accommodation: this may include hotels, B&Bs and other residential facilities that are used on an emergency basis. Supports are provided to services users on a visiting supports basis. STA - Supported Temporary Accommodation: accommodation, including family hubs, hostels, with onsite professional support. TEA - Temporary Emergency Accommodation: emergency accommodation with no (or minimal) support

Results from the one day point in time census of homeless individuals in San Mateo County from 2007 - 2010. The Census and Survey was designed to meet two related sets of data needs. The first is the requirement of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that communities applying for McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance funds (also known as Continuum of Care or “CoC” funds) must conduct a point-in-time count of homeless people a minimum of every two years. These counts are required to take place in the last ten days of January.

This layer contains detailed Point in Time counts of homeless populations from 2019. This layer is modeled after a similar layer that contains data for 2018, 2013, and 2008.Layer is symbolized to show the count of the overall homeless population in 2019, with a pie chart of breakdown of type of shelter. To see the full list of attributes available in this service, go to the "Data" tab, and choose "Fields" at the top right. The Point-in-Time (PIT) count is a count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons on a single night in January. HUD requires that Continuums of Care Areas (CoCs) conduct an annual count of homeless persons who are sheltered in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and Safe Havens on a single night. CoCs also must conduct a count of unsheltered homeless persons every other year (odd numbered years). Each count is planned, coordinated, and carried out locally.The Point-in-Time values were retrieved from HUD's Historical Data site. Original source is the 2019 sheet within the "2007 - 2019 PIT Counts by CoCs.xlsx" (downloaded on 3/10/2020) file. Key fields were kept and joined to the CoC boundaries available from HUD's Open Data site.Data note: MO-604 covers territory in both Missouri and Kansas. The record described in this file represents the CoC's total territory, the sum of the point-in-time estimates the CoC separately reported for the portions of its territory in MO and in KS.For more information and attributes on the CoC Areas themselves, including contact information, see this accompanying layer.Suggested Citation: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s Point in Time (PIT) 2019 counts for Continuum of Care Grantee Areas, accessed via ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World on (date).

Yearly statewide and by-Continuum of Care total counts of individuals receiving homeless response services by age group, race, and gender.

This data comes from the Homelessness Data Integration System (HDIS), a statewide data warehouse which compiles and processes data from all 44 California Continuums of Care (CoC)—regional homelessness service coordination and planning bodies. Each CoC collects data about the people it serves through its programs, such as homelessness prevention services, street outreach services, permanent housing interventions and a range of other strategies aligned with California’s Housing First objectives.

The dataset uploaded reflects the 2024 HUD Data Standard Changes. Previously, Race and Ethnicity are separate files but are now combined.

Information updated as of 2/06/2025.

The annual Shelter Capacity Report provides capacity statistics for emergency homeless shelters, transitional housing and violence against women (VAW) shelters in Canada. The number of shelter facilities and the number of permanent beds are reported for each province and territory, as well as by community.

This map shows Point in Time counts of the overall homeless populations from 2019. Layer is symbolized to show the count of the overall homeless population in 2019, with a pie chart of breakdown of type of shelter. To see the full list of attributes available in this service, go to the "Data" tab, and choose "Fields" at the top right. The Point-in-Time (PIT) count is a count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons on a single night in January. HUD requires that Continuums of Care Areas (CoCs) conduct an annual count of homeless persons who are sheltered in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and Safe Havens on a single night. CoCs also must conduct a count of unsheltered homeless persons every other year (odd numbered years). Each count is planned, coordinated, and carried out locally.The Point-in-Time values were retrieved from HUD's Historical Data site. Original source is the 2019 sheet within the "2007 - 2019 PIT Counts by CoCs.xlsx" (downloaded on 3/10/2020) file. Key fields were kept and joined to the CoC boundaries available from HUD's Open Data site.Data note: MO-604 covers territory in both Missouri and Kansas. The record described in this file represents the CoC's total territory, the sum of the point-in-time estimates the CoC separately reported for the portions of its territory in MO and in KS.For more information and attributes on the CoC Areas themselves, including contact information, see this accompanying layer.Suggested Citation: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)'s Point in Time (PIT) 2019 counts for Continuum of Care Grantee Areas, accessed via ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World on (date).

As of January 2022, around 41 percent of homeless people in Germany were single. The second largest group of homeless people were couples with children. The graph shows the family situation of homeless people in Germany.

This statistic displays the changes occurred in the total number of homeless people in France from 2017 to 2023. We can observe that the number of homeless people stagnated at 143,000 until 2020, but reached 330,000 in 2023.

In September 2024, the number of people experiencing homelessness in the Republic of Ireland reached 14,760 people, up from just over 10,000 before the COVID-19 pandemic, and less than 4,000 in early 2015.

People identified as homeless by ethnic group, national identity, religion, main language, and English language proficiency.

Table of homeless population by Year (for years 2009 through 2012)