The number of homeless people skyrocketed this year in the US to reach the highest level since it began to be counted, with an increase of more than 18% compared to 2023. The national housing crisis, the end of aid federal policies of the pandemic era and the demographic pressure that has resulted from the arrival of tens of thousands of immigrants in search of asylum, or at least a roof over their heads, are the main phenomena behind the increase, as well as the wave of natural disasters that has left thousands homeless of people.
According to the annual report of the Department of Housing and Urban Development of the federal government, published this Friday, this increase is added to another 12% in 2023, which the agency also attributed to the increase in rents and the end of aid for the pandemic. The increase in 2023 was also due to people who became homeless for the first time, that is, those who entered the count system. The global figures represent 23 out of every 10,000 people in the United States, with the majority of the African-American population out of the total.
The number of homeless people surpassed 770,000, the largest annual increase since counting began in 2007. Almost all categories of homeless people increased, with an especially pronounced increase among minors and families, the latter with an increase of 40%. The document also indicates that the number of homeless people has increased by a third in the last two years, after periods of modest fluctuations. The agency attributes the increase to factors such as “the worsening of the national affordable housing crisis,” inflation, which reached peaks in 2022, and the end of federal aid programs due to the pandemic.
In a call with journalists to present the report, department officials highlighted the increase in the number of asylum-seeking immigrants arriving since the spring of 2022, which has overwhelmed the capacity of the shelter system, where much of the increase is located: immigrants versus local ones, competing for an increasingly scarce resource such as an affordable roof, despite the promises of local administrations to build more social housing.
“No American should face homelessness, and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that all families have access to the affordable, safe, quality housing they deserve,” the director of the agency said in a statement. agency, Adrianne Todman, who added that the focus must continue to be “homelessness prevention and eradication efforts.”
Among the most worrying trends is the increase of almost 40% in homeless families, one of the groups most affected by the arrival of immigrants to large cities. According to the department, the number of homeless families more than doubled in the 13 communities where the most immigrants have arrived, such as Denver, Chicago and New York, while in the remaining 373 the variation did not reach 8%. These cities have been the main destination of the thousands of buses with migrants chartered by the Republican governors of the border to pressure the Democratic Government in Washington. Nearly 150,000 children were homeless on a single night in 2024, a 33% increase over last year.
Natural disasters also played a role in homelessness, especially last year’s catastrophic Maui wildfire, the deadliest in the United States in more than a century. More than 5,200 people were in emergency shelters in Hawaii during the reporting. The deadliest hurricanes of the last decade, which have hit several states in recent months, have also left thousands of Americans homeless.
The report provides some positive news, such as confirming the decline in homelessness among veterans. The number of former military personnel who are homeless fell by 8%, to 32,882 in 2024 (officially, because in large cities it is common to see them on the street, asking for help). In the case of veterans deprived of shelters or temporary care, the decrease was even greater, 11%, to 13,851 in 2024.