Government
Homelessness in High-Cost U.S. Cities Is Driving a Nationwide Increase
Many Obama-era policies are keeping numbers low in smaller cities. But the new data comes in the wake of a GOP budget that does little to bolster affordable housing.
On a single night in January 2017, 553,742 were homeless across the U.S. For the first time in seven years, this number has grown. In the past year, the nation has seen a one-percent increase in the nation’s homeless population. That’s 3,814 more homeless people since January 2016.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its 2017 Annual Homeless Assessment Report—the report to Congress that analyzes the results of a nationwide point-in-time estimate, conducted in January. This year’s report reveals that while homelessness has dropped in a number of places, the overall uptick has been driven by an increase in the nation’s 50 most populous cities.