How Many People are Homeless?
In 1996, an estimated 637,000 adults were homeless in any given week. In the same year, an estimated 2.1 million adults were homeless over the course of a year. These numbers increase dramatically when children are included, to 842,000 and 3.5 million, respectively. Over a 5-year period, about 2 to 3 percent of the U.S. population (5 to 8 million people) will experience at least one night of homelessness. For the great majority of these people, the experience is short and often caused by a natural disaster, house fire, or community evacuation. A much smaller group, perhaps as many as 500,000 people, has greater difficulty ending homelessness.
