The Economic Consequences of Homelessness in The US

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Data
1National Estimates Estimates by CoC
Homeless Individuals
Homelessness in the United States
source: PIT 2007–2017; Excludes Puerto Rico and U.S. territories
Changes Over Time
• Between 2016 and 2017 individual homelessness
increased by nine percent (15,540 people) in the
nation’s major cities. This increase was driven by
a 22 percent increase in unsheltered individuals
(17,663 more people). Los Angeles accounted for
half (8,758) of the entire increase in unsheltered
individuals.
• After Los Angeles, New York reported the
second largest increase, with 2,159 more
individuals experiencing homelessness. This
increase was evenly split between people
staying in sheltered and unsheltered locations.
• Smaller cities, counties, and regional CoCs
saw a slight decline in the number of people
experiencing homelessness as individuals (1%
or 1,253 fewer people) since 2016. There was a
three percent decline in the number of sheltered
individuals (2,499 fewer people), which offset a
two percent increase (1,246 more people) in the
number of unsheltered individuals.
• In BoS and statewide CoCs, individual
homelessness from 2016 to 2017 remained flat.
• From 2007 to 2017, smaller cities, counties, and
regional CoCs experienced the largest declines
in the number of homeless individuals, with
34,203 fewer people (or 21%). The number of
unsheltered individuals in this CoC category
declined by 27 percent (or 21,334) during the
same time period.
• BoS and statewide CoCs experienced declines
in homeless individuals between 2007 and 2017,
with 13 percent fewer homeless individuals,
nine percent fewer sheltered individuals, and 17
percent fewer unsheltered individuals in 2017
than in 2007.
• The number of homeless individuals in major
cities in 2017 was slightly lower than the number
of homeless individuals in 2007 (1% fewer
people). However, in recent years the number of
homeless individuals, unsheltered individuals
in particular, in major cities has risen sharply.
In 2017 there were only two percent more
unsheltered individuals in major cities than there
were in 2007 but 47 percent more than there
were in 2014, the year after which the number
began to rise.
Between 2016 and 2017, individual
homelessness increased by nine
percent (15,540 people) in the
nation’s major cities. Los Angeles
accounted for 60% of this increase.
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