It’s difficult to pinpoint numbers in a population that is constantly on the move. But on a single night in 2024, when US state and local authorities nationwide counted their populations and reported the results to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), approximately 770,000 Americans lacked a home: 18 percent more than in 2023 and the highest number without shelter since 2007, when reporting began. About 60 percent of those counted were men and 30 percent were women; 111,620 were children under 18, more than 10,000 of whom were living outside shelters, and more than 3,000 were living on their own, without guardians. Most had found emergency shelters, safe havens, transitional housing, or open areas to settle temporarily.
There are as many reasons for homelessness as there are people without stable shelter. In the US, a homeless person is someone lacking a fixed, regular, adequate nighttime shelter. Experts have defined four types of homelessness: chronic, episodic, transitional, and hidden. Many have lost homes for financial reasons brought on by job loss, illness and associated expenses, rent increases, or inability to work because of family care obligations. Others may never have set foot on the ladder to homeownership or any level of success because of chronic conditions, or emotional or personal issues they could not resolve. A distressingly common reason, one that should no longer exist, is displacement due to war and aggression.
So sensitive is the topic of homelessness that official government statistics are obtainable for only 78 out of 195 countries. Since 2018, no more than 57 countries have released official government data on their people who have no homes to go to. HUD data shows that in 2024, New York (158,019) and California (187,084) had the highest numbers, at 81 and 48 per 10,000 residents, respectively. It’s revealing that almost two-thirds of homeless Americans are Black or Hispanic/Latinx, although these groups together comprise no more than one-third of the US population. Worldwide, it’s estimated that 1.6 billion people lack access to adequate housing and basic services.
The key point is that homelessness is everywhere, and it can’t be blamed on the homeless person. We occasionally meet individuals who resist society’s rules. Many of them, however, accept help when offered, along with the conditions for its acceptance, and even many hard-core standouts eventually reveal a vulnerable side that proves a gateway to a safer, more healthful, if not thoroughly conventional lifestyle.
During the last decade, the face of homeownership has changed radically, and not for the better. Housing prices have grown faster than incomes not only in the US, but in low- and middle-income countries worldwide. The face of the homeowner has aged as house prices have moved out of reach for younger buyers.
In 1981, the median age for a first-time homebuyer was 29 years. By 2023, according to the National Association of Realtors, it was 35. Inflation and student loan obligations have slowed wealth-building for young adults, even as they reach typical family-forming years. Meanwhile, housing prices have soared beyond what recent graduates or early-career workers can afford. And for a startling wake-up call: Redfin reported in June 2025 that nearly one in 10 US homes was valued at $1 million or more—nearly double the share from six years earlier.
Despite optimistic predictions after house sales in 2024 fell to their lowest level in 29 years, in mid-2025, there’s no sign of a rebound. Although potential buyers generally respond positively when listings accumulate and houses linger on the market, economic uncertainty and high mortgage rates have discouraged efforts to move inventory. For sellers who are sitting tight, current high mortgage rates are a deterrent to offloading properties they bought at super-low rates a few years back.
According to the Urban Institute in partnership with the National Housing Conference, there is not enough affordable housing in the United States. Why? Building affordable housing, they say, is “not particularly affordable.” Without an assurance that a development will produce sufficient revenue to pay back construction loans and deliver returns to investors, a developer may stop construction before it starts. For the many low-income families looking at the market for safe, affordable homes, the message is “Keep looking.”
Disruptions in the market can discourage a crucial layer of the social structure: the essential workers who keep a town’s systems running and who are often required to live within a specified radius of their workplace—police officers, firefighters, sanitation workers, teachers, nurses, and other medical personnel. These are people whose services others depend on around the clock. Their demands are modest and reasonable: A decent house or apartment in a safe area, good schools, a safe playground or park, and health care within reach. Notwithstanding the importance of their jobs, salaries may be modest, and compensation may be more often filled out with time off during the summer, relatively stable employment, and early retirement than with a bigger paycheck. Some of these workers may fall within the specifications for Extremely Low-Income earners, and with children to feed and educate, and possibly members of an older generation to care for, their financial burden can be unrelenting.
Redlining, legally established with racist sanctions, has persisted to exclude population groups from the real estate market and legalize housing discrimination even after the enactment of replacement policies. Traces and reminders let us know that the practice has never been eradicated. The persistent and pernicious effects of legalized segregation in the form of redlining demand that society uproot laws and procedures that laid a racialized shield over fundamentals such as housing, education, employment, and transportation, and counter them with new legislation, policies and socially acceptable behaviors aimed at directly reversing the impact of those earlier practices. Undoing redlining’s legacy is not just a matter of justice—it’s a prerequisite for solving today’s housing crisis.
