by Samuel Stebbins, for 24/7 Wall St. via The Center Square
On a single night in 2022, 582,462 people experienced homelessness in the United States, and numbers are on the rise. Since 2017, there has been a 6% increase in homelessness.
About six in 10 of the people experiencing homelessness in 2022 had access to emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, or safe havens, while the remainder were unsheltered. Rates of unsheltered homelessness — which includes those sleeping on the streets, in abandoned buildings, and in wooded areas — are also on the rise.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, there were an estimated 2,780 people experiencing homelessness on a single night in Vermont in 2022. Adjusting for population, this comes out to about 43.1 people for every 10,000 state residents, the second most among the 50 states.
Of those experiencing homelessness in Vermont, a reported 98.4% were unsheltered, the highest share among states.
All data in this story is from the 2022 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
| Rank | State | Homeless population per 10,000 state residents, 2022 | Total residents experiencing homelessness, 2022 | Homeless population without shelter, 2022 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 43.7 | 171,521 | 67.3 |
| 2 | Vermont | 43.1 | 2,780 | 98.4 |
| 3 | Oregon | 42.3 | 17,959 | 61.7 |
| 4 | Hawaii | 41.4 | 5,967 | 62.7 |
| 5 | New York | 37.4 | 74,178 | 5.4 |
| 6 | Washington | 32.6 | 25,211 | 50.2 |
| 7 | Maine | 32.1 | 4,411 | 3.7 |
| 8 | Alaska | 31.7 | 2,320 | 15.4 |
| 9 | Nevada | 24.2 | 7,618 | 46.8 |
| 10 | Delaware | 23.6 | 2,369 | 6.5 |
| 11 | Massachusetts | 22.2 | 15,507 | 7.3 |
| 12 | Arizona | 18.6 | 13,553 | 40.8 |
| 13 | Colorado | 17.9 | 10,397 | 69.6 |
| 14 | Louisiana | 15.9 | 7,373 | 16.8 |
| 15 | South Dakota | 15.5 | 1,389 | 24.6 |
| 16 | Tennessee | 15.1 | 10,567 | 58 |
| 17 | Montana | 14.4 | 1,585 | 18.5 |
| 18 | Rhode Island | 14.4 | 1,577 | 15.7 |
| 19 | Minnesota | 13.9 | 7,917 | 22.3 |
| 20 | New Mexico | 12.1 | 2,560 | 21.6 |
| 21 | Florida | 11.9 | 25,959 | 45.2 |
| 22 | New Hampshire | 11.6 | 1,605 | 20.6 |
| 23 | Nebraska | 11.4 | 2,246 | 9.6 |
| 24 | Wyoming | 11.2 | 648 | 90.1 |
| 25 | Utah | 10.7 | 3,557 | 24.5 |
| 26 | Idaho | 10.5 | 1,998 | 44.4 |
| 27 | Georgia | 9.9 | 10,689 | 48.2 |
| 28 | Pennsylvania | 9.8 | 12,691 | 12.7 |
| 29 | Missouri | 9.7 | 5,992 | 73.3 |
| 30 | New Jersey | 9.4 | 8,752 | 88.8 |
| 31 | Oklahoma | 9.4 | 3,754 | 35.1 |
| 32 | Ohio | 9.0 | 10,654 | 81.7 |
| 33 | North Carolina | 8.9 | 9,382 | 38.6 |
| 34 | Kentucky | 8.8 | 3,984 | 27.2 |
| 35 | Maryland | 8.7 | 5,349 | 83.3 |
| 36 | Texas | 8.3 | 24,432 | 44.9 |
| 37 | Kansas | 8.2 | 2,397 | 29.1 |
| 38 | Michigan | 8.2 | 8,206 | 11 |
| 39 | Arkansas | 8.1 | 2,459 | 52.7 |
| 40 | Connecticut | 8.1 | 2,930 | 10 |
| 41 | Wisconsin | 8.1 | 4,775 | 6.3 |
| 42 | Indiana | 8.0 | 5,449 | 14.7 |
| 43 | North Dakota | 7.9 | 610 | 13.6 |
| 44 | West Virginia | 7.7 | 1,375 | 29 |
| 45 | Iowa | 7.6 | 2,419 | 83.2 |
| 46 | Virginia | 7.6 | 6,529 | 10.5 |
| 47 | Alabama | 7.4 | 3,752 | 42.1 |
| 48 | Illinois | 7.3 | 9,212 | 20.6 |
| 49 | South Carolina | 7.0 | 3,608 | 65.8 |
| 50 | Mississippi | 4.1 | 1,196 | 63.6 |
Categories: Housing
Part of the reason for this high figure is that the State refuses to consider most sheltered individuals, including those paying for motel rooms, as homeless. The true number of homeless is greatly shrunk with this practice, although the percentage unsheltered rises to near-100%.
Sorry to say they have heard of all the freebies here and came to take advantage, but housing was not one of them. And given all the freebies they will continue to flock here and we will never be able to catch up without totally bankrupting the taxpayers
People are being brought in by Woke activists in order to affect elections.
Are you homeless, no matter where you are from, come to Vermont we have freebies and
we are
controlled
by a pack of liberal fools, that think they are helping these poor souls,
by letting them do what they want, including illegal drugs on city property or
any street corner …………………………
Look at Burlington’s Mayor, he’s jumping ship after he and his gaggle of fools ” The City Council ” turned the city into a third world Hole !!
Congrats to Virginia, my previous residence.
I shoulda stayed there.
Apply critical thinking to this report and you realize it is propaganda. It presents the number of homeless as fact but the government report threw out figures as estimates. How were the figures derived and what is the +/- figure for error?
Parasites that have willfully rejected basic responsibility. My river front, commercial property was plagued with this element. Easy solution, well armed, I piled their belongings and set fire. True story. A scorched Earth policy works. What’s your solution?
Vermont winter cannot come soon enough, will reduce homelessness significantly
How many homeless in ALL states are illegals pouring over our lawless borders thanks to the present fraudulent occupier of the White House?
He doesn’t really care about them as human beings. He doesn’t care if they have places to live or jobs. He breaks the law and commits Treason to let them all in, because he wants them to register to vote!
Doesn’t anyone think it odd that one of the smallest states and also one of the coldest states has one of the highest homeless or “unsheltered” populations in the country? Why? Well, as I’ve said before, it’s because we hand out services like it was Halloween candy. And we don’t require any verification of residency and we don’t require payback of any kind.
Let’s be clear…there is no real, universal definition of homelessness. Claims for housing benefits are based on the honor system. You CAN prove you have place to shelter but you CANNOT prove that you dont. This statistic is intended primarily to pull at the heartstrings of gullible liberal voters and legislators. The only truth to these high numbers for Vermont is that the ease at which benefits are obtained does attract vagrants from afar to free up their financial resources for other things that they deem a higher priority than paying for a roof over their head. For someone with a serious opioid issue, giving them more disposable income is a death sentence. The other factor is the Biden administration allowing millions of indigent migrants to flood into the country in the midst of an already chronic shortage of affordable housing. It’s not complicated why we are in this mess…democrats/liberals consistently vote to perpetuate it, because they fall for these misleading metrics and feel guilty.
Vermont is a failed State – the proof is in the numbers and the despots are far from done – there a few more nickels and dimes to shake out of the pockets of the debt slave-kool aide drinkers.
You ejits who think being homeless is a joke, or better yet a privelage to be sought…better check the bubble you are living in, or at least the ivory tower. People do not WANT to be homeless… do YOU??? Why go some place else to be homeless — a state known to have six months of winter — you ARE NOT THINKING STRAIGHT amigoes.
Homelessness is a direct result of the STATE and FEDS control of resources, and special interest groups who cater to the rich and privelaged with Vermont is now RUN BY.
Your privelage stinks.
Homelessnes approaching winter is no joke.
I’m headed into my second winter in a camper — at 72.
No state anywhere else has anything better to offer in terms of availabiity and affordabiity if I could AFFORD to move… most homeless cannot even afford a bus ticket, let alone a full on move to another state.
You are blaming the victims once again… howwww conveeeenyent…slips the bonds of responability away from you…
sword of truth, you repeat cliches’. They’re attracted to VT because of the generous welfare system, as stated here.
There is a healthy overlap with addiction. Vermont’s high drug use rate affects the homeless rate. For a peak at HUD’s point in time county by county homeless concerns go to vthope.net/VT-PIT.html