The number of people experiencing homelessness in the U.S. has declined modestly over the past ten years, driven in large part by reductions in the number of homeless veterans and individuals with chronic patterns of homelessness. Modest declines were also seen in the percentages of all people experiencing homelessness as individuals and of people experiencing homelessness as part of a family with children, although the decline for families with children was limited to those found in unsheltered locations. The number of people using shelters over a year as part of a family has increased somewhat.

There is considerable variation at the state and local levels. The largest states—California, New York, Florida, and Texas—account for about half of the national estimate of people experiencing homelessness, but have very different rates of homelessness (the share of the state’s population found homeless by Point-in-Time counts). States also differ dramatically in the share of the population that is found in sheltered locations rather than in places not suitable for human habitation.

At the local level, homelessness is a largely urban phenomenon, with more than 70 percent of people using shelter in urban, rather than rural or suburban areas. The Continuums of Care that cover the 50 largest cities in the U.S. account for about half of the total population of people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. However, as with states, rates of homelessness vary substantially across cities, even within a single state.

Systematic collection of data beginning in the early 2000s has greatly improved our ability to understand homelessness. For example, during the Great Recession there was an expectation that homelessness would increase substantially. It did, but the increases were almost entirely for families with children rather than for people experiencing homelessness as individuals. We can see substantial reductions in chronic homelessness in recent years, which appear to reflect the emphasis placed on permanent supportive housing since the early 2000s.