Homelessness Increases Nationwide Including in Connecticut, New National Data Shows
/Homelessness in the U.S. increased to the highest level on record in 2024, reportedly driven by factors including high rents, stagnant wages and a surge in migrants seeking asylum, according to federal officials.
The number of people nationwide - in an annual snapshot of the number of individuals in shelters, temporary housing, and unsheltered settings - topped 770,000, an increase of 18 percent from 2023, and the largest annual jump since the count began in 2007.
The annual count occurred in January, and the results were released this past Friday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The report indicated that homelessness in the U.S. rose by a third in the past two years, after declining modestly over the previous decade. HUD Agency Head Adrianne Todman noted that “While this data is nearly a year old, and no longer reflects the situation we are seeing, it is critical that we focus on evidence-based efforts to prevent and end homelessness.”
The Connecticut state-level estimates included in the report:
Estimates of Individuals Experiencing Homelessness, 2024: 2,302
Number of all people experiencing homelessness per 10,000 population: Less than 10 (The national rate is 23 per 10,000 population.)
Percentage of People Experiencing Homelessness Who Are Unsheltered: 17%
Percentage of Individuals Experiencing Homelessness Who Are Unsheltered: 24%
Changes in Number of People Experiencing Homelessness Between 2023 and 2024: 395 (Between an 11% and 25% increase; 43 states and the District of Columbia reported increases in the number of people experiencing homelessness. )
Changes in the Number of Individuals Experiencing Homelessness: 252
Estimates of People in Families with Children Experiencing Homelessness: 1,108
Percentage of People in Families with Children Experiencing Homelessness: Between 25% and 34%
Percentages of People in Families with Children Experiencing Homelessness Who Are Unsheltered: 1%
Estimates of Unaccompanied Youth Experiencing Homelessness: 174 (8-10%)
Percentage of Unaccompanied Youth Experiencing Homelessness Who Are Unsheltered: 26%
Estimates of Individuals Experiencing Chronic Patterns of Homelessness: 81
Percentages of Individuals Experiencing Chronic Patterns of Homelessness Who Were Unsheltered: 29%
Changes in the Number of Individuals Experiencing Chronic Patterns of Homelessness: decrease of 36
Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said the report underscores the growing urgency of the homelessness crisis, driven by a combination of longstanding affordable housing shortages, rising inflation, discrimination, and insufficient social safety nets to address the rising demand for support. Marginalized people, including people of color, continue to be over-represented in the data, she pointed out.
The HUD report indicates that “All People Experiencing Homelessness includes all people who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. It includes people staying in emergency shelters, safe havens, and transitional housing programs. It also includes people who were experiencing unsheltered homelessness in places not meant for human habitation such as on the streets, in abandoned buildings, bus stations, or in their cars.”
Individuals Experiencing Homelessness refers to a people who are not part of a family with children during an experience of homelessness (i.e., the person is not experiencing homelessness in a household with at least one adult and at least one child under age 18). Individuals may be single adults, unaccompanied children, or in multiple-adult or multiple-child households.
The 103-page report also included an array of demographic data including race, ethnicity and gender; data on veterans, and comparisons among geographic regions. The full report, including Connecticut data, can be seen here: https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/ahar.html
