Homelessness is on the rise in the United States, and it’s growing at a rate never seen before, according to data released Friday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The 2023 Annual Homeless Assessment Report shows that more than 653,000 people were experiencing homelessness in the U.S. — marking a 12% increase from 2022. The report uses compiled Point-In-Time Count data — a method that attempts to count every person living homeless one day out of the year — from across the nation to track the ebbs and flows of the nation’s homelessness crisis.
It’s the highest homeless population ever recorded since the federal government first began collecting this information in 2007. And it’s the sharpest year-to-year rise in Americans living in shelter, temporary housing and places not meant for human habitation like tarps, tents and vehicles. Since 2021, data also shows that there’s been a sharp rise in the number of people who became homeless for the first time, according to HUD.
Washington’s count was also at an all-time high, growing at an unprecedented rate — about 11%.
Rising housing costs, sunsetting pandemic-era aid programs and a sharp increase of migrants and asylum-seekers being bused to cities and needing shelter services are all likely playing a role in the increase, explained Gregg Colburn, University of Washington associate professor and homelessness researcher.
“You put that together, and you end up with a really troubling number,” said Colburn, co-author of the book “Homelessness is a Housing Problem.”
Washington state mirrors those national trends.
The number of people living homeless in Washington rose by 2,825 people to 28,036 from 2022, according to the state’s Point-in-Time Count.
That’s likely an undercount.
Researchers used 2022’s tally of people not in shelter because HUD only requires an official count every two years, so there wasn’t one in Seattle or King County for 2023. The King County Regional Homelessness Authority is in charge of this count and is currently preparing for the 2024 count, which will occur next month.
Because the Point-In-Time Count is just a snapshot in time, Meghan Henry, who directed the federal report compilation for the firm Abt Associates, said she likes to precede the data with “at least.”
“So at least 653,000 people experienced homelessness on a single night,” Henry said. Think of it as a minimum.
Beyond the staggering total are deeper disparities.
People who identify as Black or African American comprise 37% of all people experiencing homelessness across the U.S., though they represent just 13% of the total U.S. population, according to the report.
People who identify as Hispanic or Latino saw a 28% increase in homelessness from 2022, and people who identify as Asian or Asian American experienced a 40% increase.
Washington showed similar disparities.
Black residents make up about 4.5% of Washington’s total population but represent nearly 17% of its homeless population.
American Indian and Alaska Native people comprise 2% of Washington’s population but represent more than 7% of the state’s homeless population.
“The data shows that people are struggling to make ends meet, nationally and locally, so the data calls for both a local and national investment in the policies and supportive services that we know prevent homelessness,” said Anne Martens, spokesperson for the King County Regional Homelessness Authority, the entity in charge of leading and coordinating King County’s response to homelessness.
Colburn echoed that. “I think the concern is that people will then say, ‘Well, obviously, what we’re doing isn’t working.’ And to me, that’s the wrong interpretation.”
The city of Seattle said that this staggering rise in homelessness demands an urgent response from local, regional and national levels.
“We recognize the need for continued investment in a strong regional approach with meaningful participation from more partners across King County, and we welcome additional federal supports,” said Lori Baxter, spokesperson for Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office.
Some experts point to the end of pandemic-focused policies and funding as one reason why numbers are surging.
The pandemic was extremely disruptive, researcher Colburn said, and it produced precarity for many households as rents rose dramatically in several U.S. cities. But at the same time, federal, state and local government leaders enacted several protections for renters and passed assistance measures to help people stay in their homes and meet their basic needs.
In Washington, eviction cases filed in October nearly doubled compared with a year earlier and experts say people are scrambling for help, according to recent reporting by The Seattle Times.
King County distributed nearly $400 million in federal funding through its Eviction Prevention and Rental Assistance Program, according to Leo Flor, Director of King County’s Department of Community and Human Services. “But this was always a short-term solution to the acute need of the pandemic,” Flor said.
Flor said that addressing this crisis to scale and long term will require building more affordable housing, supporting efforts to site housing and shelter, and paying social services providers sufficiently. Flor added that “we need to resist narratives that dehumanize people and instead embrace people who experience homelessness as members of our community.”