HUD released the 2024 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR), Part 1 on December 27, 2024. The report, which provides annual estimates of homelessness in the U.S., finds that from 2023 to 2024, homelessness in the U.S. increased by 18%, with approximately 770,000 people experiencing homelessness during this period. Homelessness increased among nearly all populations, including individuals, people in families with children, children and unaccompanied youth, seniors, and people of color. Veterans were the only population to see a continued decline in homelessness rates, which can be attributed to intense and sustained funding targeted at ending veteran homelessness. Read the report here. Read NLIHC’s statement in response to the report here.
The AHAR summarizes estimates of homelessness at the national, state, and Continuum of Care (CoC) levels based on data from the annual Point-in-Time (PIT) counts of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2024. CoCs are local planning bodies responsible for coordinating homelessness services. The PIT counts, conducted by local volunteers, provide a “snapshot” of homelessness.
The 2024 Point-in-Time (PIT) count documented the highest number of people being unhoused since reporting began in 2007. Approximately 770,000 people were experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2024 – an 18% increase from 2023. Among people experiencing homelessness, 64% were staying in sheltered locations, while 36% were experiencing unsheltered homelessness in places not meant for human habitation.
The count also revealed the highest to-date number of people experiencing chronic homelessness, which is defined as having a disability and experiencing continuous homelessness for one year or more or at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years for a combined time of 12 months. One in three individuals experiencing homelessness (152,585) experienced chronic patterns of homelessness. Sixty-five percent of individuals experiencing chronic homelessness – more than 99,565 people – were in unsheltered locations.
Most people experienced homelessness as individuals, making up two-thirds of the population experiencing homelessness. Between 2023 and 2024, the number of individuals experiencing homelessness increased by 9.6% (44,987 people), with the number of individuals experiencing sheltered homelessness increasing by 12.5% and the number of individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness increasing by 6.9%. One-third of people experiencing homelessness (259,473) were in families composed of at least one adult and one child. Between 2023 and 2024, families with children saw the highest increase in homelessness compared to any other population category – the number of families experiencing homelessness rose by 39% (73,389). This increase in family homelessness was driven by a 43% increase in the number of people (72,217 more people) in families experiencing sheltered homelessness.
The number of children under the age of 18 experiencing homelessness increased to nearly 150,000, an increase of 33% from 2023. Between 2023 and 2024, the number of unaccompanied youths increased by 3,467 or 10% to 38,170. According to the report, 41,292 people experiencing homelessness were seniors, and 43% of those seniors were experiencing unsheltered homelessness in places not meant for human habitation.
People of color continue to be overrepresented among the homeless population compared to the U.S. population. Black people, for example, represent 12% of the U.S. population but accounted for nearly 32% of all people experiencing homelessness in 2024. However, the share of Black people experiencing homelessness decreased five percentage points from 2023. Thirty percent of all people experiencing homelessness were Hispanic/Latino, an increase of 32% (56,629 more people) from 2023. The increase is Hispanic/Latino people experiencing homelessness made up nearly half (47%) of the total increase in people experiencing homelessness from 2023 to 2024.
Due to large and sustained funding efforts, veterans were the only population that saw a continued decline in homelessness. The number of veterans experiencing homelessness decreased by 2,692 or 8% between 2023 and 2024. Since 2009, the number of veterans experiencing homelessness has decreased 55%.
The rise in homelessness in 2024 can be attributed to the nation’s worsening shortage of affordable housing, stagnant wages that have not kept up with increased housing costs, the effects of increased inflation over the past few years, and the ending of many pandemic-era benefits and protections that helped keep individual and families stable housed. Further, some CoCs reported that, without sufficient social safety nets in place, increases in both natural disasters and the number of individuals immigrating to the U.S. have also contributed to the rise in homelessness reflected in the 2024 AHAR Part 1.
The 2024 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress, Part 1 is available at: https://bit.ly/4fMMiKO
Read NLIHC’s statement on the 2024 AHAR Report, Part 1: https://bit.ly/3PqQIfz