An annual survey has found that the number of people experiencing homelessness in the United States has hit an all-time high while the cost of housing has become increasingly unaffordable.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development released its report on Friday, showing that the number of homeless people jumped by 12% earlier this year compared to the year before.
The 12% jump represented about 70,650 people losing their homes.
The report examines the number of people across the country living in shelters, temporary homes, or no home at all on one night in January.
The “point-in-time” report found that this year, there were more than 650,000 homeless individuals on the night examined in the report, the most since 2007 when reporting began.
HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge released a statement alongside the report, noting that while the issue is “solvable and should not exist” in our country, homelessness remains.
“We’ve made positive strides, but there is still more work to be done,” she said in the report. “This data underscores the urgent need for support for proven solutions and strategies that help people quickly exit homelessness and that prevent homelessness in the first place.”
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Among those to experience homelessness the most were Black Americans, who make up 37% of the homeless population. Asian Americans saw the biggest increase in homelessness from 2022 to 2023, jumping 40%.
The report also noted that there was a drastic increase in the number of people who became homeless for the first time in their lives. The report found that between the federal fiscal year 2021 and 2022, the number of people who became newly homeless increased 25%.
HUD says that the increase in the homeless population has been caused by several factors, including the rise in housing costs.
“We must address the main driver of homelessness and housing instability — the gap between low incomes and rent costs,” Peggy Bailey, vice president for Housing and Income Security at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said in a statement. “We have learned a lot from approaches that have targeted specific populations and helped them exit homelessness. Now, we need to take those lessons and broaden them to ensure that anyone who needs help gets it, period.”
According to Rent.com, rent prices hit an all-time high in August of this year, when the median rent across the country was $2,054. While prices have dropped since November, were still high at $1,967 on average.
Rent may have played one factor, but the report also highlighted the end to pandemic protections on evictions potentially playing a role.
Nonetheless, HUD announced that it is working to help more than 424,000 households connect with homeless support services to exit or avoid being homeless in 2023.
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