HUD found that in 2018, homelessness on a single night was experienced by 552,830 people. This is a .3% increase since last year. Despite this minor fluctuation in overall homelessness, the homeless veterans statistic fell by 5.4%. And there’s a 2.7% decrease in homeless families since 2017.

The very small change in overall homelessness across the US is not necessarily due to a widespread inactivity of statistics. In fact, this small change is due to the combination of highly varying statistics in local areas. Specifically, 31 states, as well as DC, have reported decreases in homelessness over the past year, while 19 states have reported increases.

HUD Secretary said, “Much progress is being made and much work remains to be done but I have great hope that communities all across our nation are intent on preventing and ending homelessness.”

Graph courtesy of HUD No. 18-147

The graph above shows the varying numbers throughout the past 11 years (since 2007).

Check out HUD’s official press release and a deeper look into the numbers of Homelessness in the US:

https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_18_147