Facts on Homelessness

Homelessness in the United States

All information extracted from the 2023 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress.

On a single night in January 2023, roughly 653,104 people were experiencing homelessness in the United States. Six in ten (60 percent) were staying in sheltered locations—emergency shelters, safe havens, or transitional housing programs—and four in ten (40 percent) were in unsheltered locations such as on the street, in abandoned buildings, or in other places not suitable for human habitation. 

Latest Data

Homelessness has increased nationwide.

• Homelessness increased nationally by less than 12 percent (an additional  70,642 people) between 2022 and 2023, accounted for by a 10 percent increase (an additional 22,778 people) in unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness and a 14 percent increase (an additional 47,864 people) in sheltered individuals experiencing homelessness.
• Seventy-one percent of people experiencing homelessness were adults in households without children. The remaining 29 percent of people experiencing homelessness did so as part of a family with at least one adult and one child under 18 years of age, and most people in families were sheltered.

On a single night in January 2023, more than 30,000 people under the age of 25 experienced homelessness on their own as “unaccompanied youth.” Slightly more than half of these youth (57 percent) were in sheltered locations. Most (91 percent) were between the ages of 18 and 24. Four percent of the unaccompanied youth population reports identifying as transgender, not singularly female or male, or gender questioning, compared with one percent of all individuals experiencing homeless.

Nearly 30 percent of individuals experiencing homelessness in 2020 had chronic patterns of homelessness.

• Chronic homelessness among individuals increased by 15 percent between 2019 and 2020 but is 8 percent lower since 2007. However, 2020 had the highest recorded number of chronically homeless individuals since 2008.
• Two-thirds of these individuals were unsheltered—staying outdoors in abandoned buildings, or other locations not suitable for human habitation rather than staying in shelters, reflecting the high degree of vulnerability of this population.*

The number of veterans experiencing homelessness declined by 11 percent (4,123 fewer people) between 2020 and 2022.

• Since 2009, the number of veterans experiencing homelessness has decreased by 55 percent (36,115 individuals).

*Chronically homeless individuals are individuals with disabilities who have either been continuously experiencing homelessness for one year or more or who have experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years where the combined length of time homeless in those occasions is at least 12 months.

Homelessness in Philadelphia

Overview

Philadelphia decreased the number of unsheltered persons by 27 percent in the last five years (2018 to 2022) with an overall 22 percent decrease in the number of homeless persons (sheltered and unsheltered) for the same period.

Approximately 8246 unduplicated people accessed emergency shelter in Philadelphia in FY22.  In FY22, OHS served 30 percent more participants in emergency shelter compared to FY21. 

During the 2019 - 2020 school year, 3,800 children and youth in Philadelphia experienced homelessness. However, the Philadelphia Department of Education suspects that the actual number of students experiencing homelessness is higher.

Total Persons Served by the Homeless Service System 2019-2022

Total Persons Served by Project Type 2019-2022

Sheltered and Unsheltered Point-in-Time Count Totals
 

Causes of Homelessness in Philadelphia

The causes of homelessness are diverse and related to many systemic and institutional structures within our country. We recognize that homelessness has many intersecting causes and that data quality and availability is, for now, still limited. We have decided to highlight a few of the causes of homelessness in Philadelphia with supported data.  

Lack of jobs at competitive living wages

• Philadelphia has a 21.7 percent poverty rate, one of the highest in the nation. Of that 21.7 percent, 11.7 percent are living in deep poverty in 2021, with incomes below 50 percent of the federal poverty limit.
• The city’s average unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in 2023, above the national average of 3.6 percent.

Disparity between housing costs and minimum wage, public supports, or earned benefits

• In Philadelphia, a person would have to work 86 hours per week at the minimum hourly wage of $7.25 to afford even a modest one-bedroom apartment.
• Pennsylvania’s Supplemental Security Income payment is only $805 per month, while the average fair market rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $811 per month—not to mention other costs of living.

Lack of affordable housing and inadequate housing assistance

• Just under half (48.9 percent) of Philadelphians pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent, which reflects low incomes and unaffordable housing, rather than simply high rent costs.
• There are only 38 affordable housing units for every 100 extremely low income households. This means over 60 percent of extremely low income households must maintain housing above their means, a recipe for financial instability.

Lack of affordable health care

• In Philadelphia, 7 percent of residents are without health insurance.
• Philadelphia county was ranked the worst (out of 67 PA counties) for health outcomes and the worst for health factors including health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic factors, and physical environment.
• More than 10 percent of people who seek substance use or mental health treatment in our public health system are experiencing homelessness.

Inadequate support for mental health and substance use challenges

• According to the 2022 Community Behavioral Health (CBH) Annual Report there are 764,780 eligible participants in the Philadelphia area while only 99,491 used CBH services.
• In 2021, 31.4 percent people experiencing homelessness had a serious mental illness, while one in five had a chronic substance use disorder.
• Research from the Collaborative Initiative to Help End Chronic Homelessness (CICH), a joint effort of HUD and Veterans Affairs, found that at program entry, 72 percent of participants had a substance use disorder and 76 percent had a mental illness.

Racial inequality

• According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a disproportionate number of minorities experience homelessness compared to their white counterparts. Black Americans are 3 times—and Native Americans are 4 times—more likely to experience homelessness than White Americans.
• The rate of unsheltered homelessness among Latinx/Hispanic individuals increased by 50 percent since 2016, compared to a twenty five percent increase in overall unsheltered homelessness.

National opioid crisis

• Individuals experiencing homelessness are at an increased risk for substance use disorders and drug overdose, a risk amplified in Philadelphia given the low cost and high potency of fentanyl and heroin sold on our streets.
• There were an estimated 1,200 unintentional fatal drug overdoses in Philadelphia in 2020.
• In 2020, there was a stark rise in racial disparities in opioid overdoses. There was a 50 percent spike in fatal overdoses suffered by Black individuals, whereas the rate for white individuals fell by 31 percent over the same Period.
• According to the City-sponsored Homeless Death Review Team, over 60 percent of the decedents in the same time frame, drug or alcohol intoxication was a primary or contributing cause of death and 86 percent of the decedents were known to use opioids.
• Drug-related deaths increased from 37 percent in 2009 to 2015 to 59 percent in 2016 to 2018. The increase in deaths over the last decade among people experiencing homelessness can be mostly attributed to this increase in drug-related deaths. 

Domestic violence

• On an average night, 250 individuals who are experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia self-report as victims of domestic violence.
• The Philadelphia Domestic Violence Hotline—operated by Women Against Abuse—receives more than 13,000 calls each year from domestic violence victims, concerned family members and friends, and community members.

Systemic Oppression 

• Voices of Youth Count and Point in Time (PIT) Count data highlight that LGBTQ youth, youth of color, parenting youth, and youth with history of involvement with child welfare and justice systems are over-represented within Philadelphia’s population of youth experiencing homelessness.
• According to a 2017 study by Brianna Remster, 8 percent of formerly incarcerated men in Philadelphia experienced homelessness within 8 years post-release, which is a rate 22 times higher than the general Philadelphian population.
• Formerly incarcerated Philadelphians who are Black men are three times at risk of experiencing homelessness, and older individuals are at heightened risk.

Solutions to Homelessness

At Project HOME, we believe in a holistic approach to ending and preventing homelessness and poverty, including: 

Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH)

• Permanent Supportive Housing has been shown by multiple national studies to be a cost effective solution to ending homelessness. Saving Lives, Saving Money, a study conducted by Project HOME in 2010, concluded that PSH saves $7,700 per person per year (over the cost of serving an unsheltered individual).
• Affordable housing is a critical component of addressing homelessness, but is insufficient on its own. Integrating housing with case management allows residents to receive services in a timely and convenient manner. Studies have found that individuals and families receiving case management are more likely to have maintained stable housing a year later.
• Investments in PSH have decreased chronic homelessness by 27 percent since 2007.

Project HOME offers a range of housing for individuals and families who have experienced homelessness, including 1038 units of affordable supportive housing, with an additional 40 units under construction and 100 units in the pipeline. 

Opportunities for employment, increased income, and education

• Breaking the cycle of homelessness and poverty requires not only housing, but sustainable, competitive employment at a living wage.  
• Connection to mainstream benefits and entitlement income through BenePhilly, Homeless Advocacy Project, and other resources is a key component of preventing and ending homelessness. 

Project HOME’s Adult Learning and Employment programs provide computer classes, career training, job readiness workshops, life skills workshops, GED classes, adult basic literacy classes, and access to other resources to help local residents improve their lives, gain employment and pursue higher education.

Affordable and accessible healthcare

Health and homelessness are inextricably linked. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, an acute physical or behavioral health crisis or any long-term disabling condition may lead to homelessness. Homelessness exacerbates chronic medical conditions. 

Holistic healthcare services that address the whole person are most successful. Physical healthcare or dental care can be gateways for people to accept behavioral health services and holistic healthcare. 

Through Project HOME's Healthcare Services, we offer integrated physical and behavioral healthcare and recovery services and wellness programs for people who are currently experiencing homelessness or those who are formerly homeless, as well as for people living in the North Philadelphia community.  

A coordinated approach to crisis response

• Homelessness prevention programs can help ensure that no one ends up in shelters or on the streets. This includes reinvesting in economically vulnerable neighborhoods, improving the school system, making sure people have access to health care, and providing jobs at a living wage, as well as shelter diversion programs. 
• A coordinated entry system allows individuals to receive housing and services more quickly, and allows organizations to pool data in order to more accurately understand our population’s needs. Project HOME transitioned to a Central Intake model in 2018, in tandem with the City of Philadelphia’s new Coordinated Entry system. These structures allow Project HOME to place vulnerable individuals in appropriate housing in a more efficient and timely manner.  

Project HOME works with Philadelphia’s Office of Homeless Services and Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbilities as a part of the local Continuum of Care (a network of government agencies, provider organizations, local stakeholders, and individuals currently or formerly experiencing homelessness) to implement a strategic, city-wide response to homelessness.