NEW: U.S. Homelessness Reached Record Levels In 2024

The United States saw a staggering 18.1 percent increase in homelessness in 2024, with U.S. officials pointing to a lack of affordable housing, natural disasters and the massive surge in illegal aliens under the Biden Administration as major factors.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that federally required tallies conducted in January found that upwards of 770,000 Americans were considered homeless. This figure is widely viewed as a baseline estimate, as it does not include those who are staying with friends or family because they cannot afford a home of their own.

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This year’s increase follows a 12 percent spike in 2023, which HUD blamed on high rent costs and the end of pandemic housing assistance. The 2023 increase included a dramatic number of Americans who experienced homelessness for the first time.

The numbers overall represent 23 of every 10,000 people in the U.S., with black Americans being overrepresented in the nation’s homeless population, according to a report from the Associated Press.

A homeless encampment in Oakland, California

“No American should face homelessness, and the Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring every family has access to the affordable, safe, and quality housing they deserve,” HUD Agency Head Adrianne Todman. She went on to call for increased efforts on “evidence-based efforts to prevent and end homelessness.”

Despite the claims, the Biden Administration’s own study measured an astonishing 40 percent increase in family homelessness, a trend that most severely affected cities that experienced a massive influx of illegal aliens and migrants who were given temporary legal status by the administration. Family homelessness more than doubled in 13 cities impacted by migrants including Denver, Chicago and New York City, according to HUD data. The figure rose by eight percent across the remaining 373 communities included in the analysis.

Upwards of 150,000 children experienced homelessness on a single night in 2024, representing a 33 percent increase over the previous year.

Outside the massive influx in illegal aliens, natural disasters rendered thousands of Americans homeless for the first time. Last year’s devastating Maui wildfires were particularly devastating, as more than 5,000 Hawaiians were living in temporary shelters on the night of the count.

“Increased homelessness is the tragic, yet predictable, consequence of underinvesting in the resources and protections that help people find and maintain safe, affordable housing,” Renee Willis, incoming interim CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said in a statement. “As advocates, researchers, and people with lived experience have warned, the number of people experiencing homelessness continues to increase as more people struggle to afford sky-high housing costs.”

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