Homelessness
Basics
Description
- Lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence
- Chronic homelessness: lacking fixed, regular housing for at least 1 year or at least four episodes of being unhoused in the past 3 years for a combined length of at least 1 year
- People struggling with homelessness often have complex and chronic medical illnesses such as mental illness, substance use disorders, and physical disabilities (1).
Epidemiology
Incidence
- Increasing since 2017 nationwide; 6% overall increase
- The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted accounting of unsheltered people, but conditions during the pandemic may have increased the incidence (1).
Prevalence
In 2022, 0.18% of the U.S. population (approximately 582,462 individuals) experienced homelessness on any given night: 61% in sheltered locations and 39% in unsheltered locations (1).
- 6% are veterans, 28% are families with children, 5% are unaccompanied youth (age <25 years), and 22% are chronically homeless individuals.
- 50% of the homeless population is white.
Risk Factors
- Poverty
- 2023 federal poverty level: $30,000 annual income for four-person household in the lower 48 states and District of Columbia, slightly higher in Alaska and Hawaii (2)
- In 2021, 11.6% of U.S. population are below federal poverty line.
- Unemployment: U.S. rate of 3.6% in June 2023 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- Lack of affordable health care: In 2022, 8.6% of U.S. population (280 million) were uninsured for the entire calendar year (3).
- Lack of affordable housing: <30% of gross income for housing costs, including utilities; roughly 37.8 million of U.S. households spend >30% on housing costs; 18.2 million households spend ≥50% of income on housing.
- Intimate partner violence (IPV): 12% of overall persons experiencing homelessness and about 20% of families experiencing homelessness report IPV; IPV often involves exertion of psychological and financial control that leaves survivors with poor credit, limited support, and few resources.
- Veterans: decreasing due to policy changes; decreased by 50% over a decade (2010 to 2020) (2)
- Transgender individuals: 0.6% identify as transgender and 0.4% as gender nonconforming (2)
- Addiction disorders: 46% report substance use as a major factor contributing to homelessness (1).
- Psychiatric illness: 25% of adults experiencing homelessness (1)
- Postincarceration: 50,000 people each year enter homeless shelters from jails/prisons (1).
General Prevention
- Policy and funding for community programs to provide emergency/rapid housing, housing stabilization, and case management services; the CARES Act of 2020 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provide funding for permanent housing. Over the past 5 years, the fastest growing forms of assistance include rapid rehousing and “other permanent housing.”
- Increased Medicaid eligibility, expanded home- and community-based services, and case management for people experiencing homelessness
- HUD: increasing permanent supportive housing units; increasing services for veterans, families with children, and those with disabilities
- Social justice policy recommendations: permanent affordable housing; foreclosure and homelessness prevention; increased funds for HUD McKinney-Vento programs (emergency, transitional, and permanent housing) and National Housing Trust Fund, rural homeless assistance, universal health care, universal livable income, employment/workforce services; prevention of hate crimes against the homeless; decriminalization of homelessness
Commonly Associated Conditions
- Hunger and malnutrition
- Exposure-related conditions (frostbite, heatstroke)
- Substance use disorders and their associated conditions
- Liver disease (alcohol, hepatitis B and C)
- Abscesses (IV drug use)
- Overdose
- Dental problems
- Psychiatric illness
- Trauma (increased risk of assault, victims of hate crime)
- Infectious diseases
- Skin/nail infection and infestation (lice, bedbugs, and scabies)
- Tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, STI
- Worsening of chronic medical conditions; lack of healthy food, places to store medications, or medical equipment; lack of restful sleep; decreased health literacy; limited transportation to appointments
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Citation
Domino, Frank J., et al., editors. "Homelessness." 5-Minute Clinical Consult, 33rd ed., Wolters Kluwer, 2025. Medicine Central, im.unboundmedicine.com/medicine/view/5-Minute-Clinical-Consult/1688702/1.2/Homelessness.
Homelessness. In: Domino FJF, Baldor RAR, Golding JJ, et al, eds. 5-Minute Clinical Consult. Wolters Kluwer; 2025. https://im.unboundmedicine.com/medicine/view/5-Minute-Clinical-Consult/1688702/1.2/Homelessness. Accessed November 6, 2024.
Homelessness. (2025). In Domino, F. J., Baldor, R. A., Golding, J., & Stephens, M. B. (Eds.), 5-Minute Clinical Consult (33rd ed.). Wolters Kluwer. https://im.unboundmedicine.com/medicine/view/5-Minute-Clinical-Consult/1688702/1.2/Homelessness
Homelessness [Internet]. In: Domino FJF, Baldor RAR, Golding JJ, Stephens MBM, editors. 5-Minute Clinical Consult. Wolters Kluwer; 2025. [cited 2024 November 06]. Available from: https://im.unboundmedicine.com/medicine/view/5-Minute-Clinical-Consult/1688702/1.2/Homelessness.
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