According to government officials on Friday, the United States had a shocking 18% increase in homelessness this year, primarily due to a shortage of affordable housing, terrible natural catastrophes, and an influx of migrants in various regions of the nation.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, federally regulated counts conducted nationwide in January revealed that over 770,000 people were homeless. This figure excludes those who are living with friends or family because they lack a place of their own and leaves out some individuals.
This hike follows a 12% increase in January 2023 that HUD attributed to the end of pandemic aid and skyrocketing rents. Those who were homeless for the first time also contributed to the 2023 surge. Overall, the figures indicate that 23 out of 10,000 Americans are homeless, with a disproportionately high percentage of Black individuals experiencing homelessness.
According to the federal report, Oregon was the only state where officials chose not to perform a new count of unsheltered persons in almost all of its most populated counties in 2024. According to the report, officials in Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Marion, Polk, and Jackson counties only included residents in emergency shelters and transitional housing—not those residing outside, in cars, or in other areas not intended for human habitation. Instead, unsheltered Oregonian counts from January 2023 were also utilized for 2024, which makes them untrustworthy.
Only jurisdictions known as Continuums of Care are required by the federal government to count all of its homeless persons in odd-numbered years. In January 2024, however, 94% of the 385 jurisdictions in the country did so.
However, according to the research, only three out of seven jurisdictions in Oregon—including Lane County and rural central Oregon—conducted a complete census. The others simply conducted a census of people residing in shelters, such as Multnomah County, which is home to roughly one-third of all homeless Oregonians.
That makes it especially difficult to comprehend homelessness trends in Oregon, where an estimated 66% of homeless persons do not have a place to stay.
Because the one-night counts miss people and are not very useful, leaders in the city of Portland and, more recently, Multnomah County have decided to only conduct federally regulated surveys in odd-numbered years when mandated by the federal government, according to county spokesperson Denis Theriault. This decision has been made for more than 20 years. According to him, the county’s efforts to produce a lot more accurate by-name list—which was recently featured by The Oregonian/OregonLive—will produce more pertinent and useful data.
The first step in ending homelessness is to comprehend its extent. Multnomah County is approaching.
The county plans to publish comprehensive data in early 2025 that will for the first time show the number and makeup of the homeless population in the region.
According to the research, the number of homeless Oregonians residing in emergency shelters or transitional housing increased by 25% from 2023 to slightly over 6,900 in January 2024.
One of the most alarming trends on a national level was the over 40% increase in family homelessness, a category that was significantly impacted by the influx of migrants into large cities. According to HUD, family homelessness increased by less than 8% in the remaining 372 towns, but more than doubled in 13 migrant-impacted communities, such as Denver, Chicago, and New York City. In 2024, about 150,000 children were homeless on one night, a 33% increase over the previous year.
The increase in the number was also caused by disasters, including the devastating Maui wildfire last year, which was the deadliest U.S. wildfire in almost a century. On the night of the census, over 5,200 people were residing in emergency shelters in Hawaii.
According to a statement from Renee Willis, the National Low Income Housing Coalition’s incoming interim CEO, underfunding the safeguards and resources that assist individuals in locating and retaining safe, affordable housing has the terrible but expected result of increasing homelessness. Advocates, experts, and those who have experienced homelessness have cautioned that as more individuals find it difficult to pay for exorbitant housing expenses, the number of homeless people keeps rising.
Former U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness executive director Robert Marbut Jr., who served from 2019 to 2021, referred to the approximately 33% rise in homelessness over the previous four years as shameful and stated that the federal government must stop focusing on permanent housing.
In an email, Marbut stated that we must prioritize the treatment of mental illness and substance abuse and reinstate program requirements, such as employment training.
These figures also coincide with a growing number of towns adopting a tough stance against homelessness.
As public pressure mounts to address what some locals claim are hazardous and unhygienic living conditions, certain localities, particularly in Western states, have started enforcing camping restrictions. This comes after the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year, 6-3, that prohibitions on sleeping outside do not violate the Eighth Amendment. Advocates for the homeless contended that criminalizing those in need of housing would make homelessness a crime.
Keith Wilson, the newly elected mayor of Portland, won a landslide victory in November after running on a program that prioritized placing almost all homeless Portlanders in emergency shelters by the fall of next year.
The count did provide some good news, as veteran homelessness rates continued to decline. In 2024, the number of homeless Veterans decreased by 8% to 32,882. For unsheltered veterans, the decline was even more pronounced, falling 11% to 13,851 in 2024.
According to a statement by Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, “the decrease in veteran homelessness gives us a clear roadmap for addressing homelessness on a larger scale.” We can duplicate this achievement and lower homelessness across the country with bipartisan support, sufficient budget, and astute policy solutions. To address the nation’s housing affordability challenge and guarantee that all Americans have access to secure, stable homes, federal investments are essential.
The number of homeless people has been successfully reduced in a number of major cities. Between 2022 and 2024, the number of homeless people in Dallas, which was working to reform its system, decreased by 16%. Since 2023, unsheltered homelessness has decreased by 5% in Los Angeles, which has expanded homes for the homeless. The biggest number of homeless people in the US is still found in California, the most populous state in the union, followed by New York, Washington, Florida, and Massachusetts.
The U.S. has been experiencing success for over ten years, which contrasts with the dramatic rise in the number of homeless people during the last two years.
Referring back to the initial study in 2007, the United States made consistent strides toward lowering the number of homeless people for roughly ten years, with the government concentrating especially on raising funding to help veterans find housing. Between 2010 and 2017, the number of homeless people decreased from over 637,000 to roughly 554,000.
As Congress responded to the COVID-19 epidemic with emergency rental assistance, stimulus funds, aid to states and local governments, and a temporary eviction moratorium, the numbers gradually increased to over 580,000 in the 2020 count and remained largely stable over the next two years.
Betsy Hammond, co-editor of The Oregonian/OregonLive’s coverage of homelessness, contributed Oregon-specific details to this article, which was written and reported by The Associated Press.
Betsy Hammond is in charge of reporting on Multnomah County, education, homelessness, Portland City Hall, and state politics and government. Her contact information is [email protected].
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