The morning commute in downtown Seattle brought Janet face-to-face with the same man she’d seen for months. He sat huddled under a tattered blue tarp, his belongings packed into a weathered shopping cart. She had watched his health visibly deteriorate through the changing seasons.
Understanding the Crisis
Homelessness in the United States is an urgent public health issue and humanitarian crisis. It impacts cities, suburbs, and rural towns in every state. Housing is a social determinant of health, meaning lack of it has a negative impact on overall health and life expectancy.
Tens of thousands of people die every year due to the dangerous conditions of living without housing—conditions that have worsened due to climate change’s rise in extreme weather. People who experience homelessness die nearly 30 years earlier than the average American—and often from easily treatable illnesses.
Before we can address homelessness, we need to understand it. Approximately 580,000 Americans experience homelessness on any given night. This includes families with children, veterans who served our country, young people, seniors, and individuals struggling with disabilities, addiction, or mental health challenges.
Contrary to common assumptions, homelessness rarely results from a single personal failing. Instead, it emerges from a complex interplay of structural problems and individual circumstances: skyrocketing housing costs, stagnant wages, inadequate mental health services, and disappearing safety nets. Small personal setbacks—a medical bill, a job loss, or a family breakdown—can push someone into homelessness.
The typical homeless American might surprise you. Many work full or part-time jobs but still can’t afford housing. Others have disabilities that prevent employment but receive benefits too meager to cover rent. Some struggle with addiction or mental illness without access to appropriate care. Many are children and teens, either with families or on their own after escaping abuse or rejection.
As housing costs continue rising faster than wages, millions more Americans live precariously close to homelessness, often just one missed paycheck or unexpected expense away from losing their homes. In a typical year, U.S. landlords pursue eviction on 3.6 million occasions. Evictions occur for many reasons, but the inability to afford rising rent costs is one of the biggest.
Homelessness: Fact vs. Fiction
Fact: While employment helps people stay housed, it does not guarantee housing. As many as 40%–60% of people experiencing homelessness have a job, but housing is unaffordable because wages have not kept up with rising rents.
Myth: People experiencing homelessness choose to live outside in tents or cars.
Fact: Homelessness usually happens because of economic reasons, and many people have nowhere else to go but outside. Many shelters are full or limited by restrictive rules that exclude parents, couples, pet owners, LGBTQI+ members, and people with criminal records or active addictions.
Myth: People experiencing homelessness are dangerous and violent.
Fact: Not having a home does not make someone a criminal; people experiencing homelessness are far more likely to be victims of violent crime than to commit it.
Myth: Most people experiencing homelessness have a substance use or mental health disorder.
Fact: While rates are high for some subgroups, the majority of people without homes do not have these disorders. Most Americans with mental health or substance use disorders are not homeless.