A federal point-in-time count conducted in January 2025 found roughly 745,652 people experiencing homelessness across the United States, a 3% drop from the same count a year earlier — a modest improvement that still leaves the national total about 27% higher than it was in 2013.
Mixed Picture Across States
The one-year decline was not evenly distributed. Homelessness rose in 28 states between January 2024 and January 2025, while a handful of states posted sharp decreases. Illinois and Hawaii stood out at the positive end, recording drops of 44% and 41%, respectively. At the other extreme, Oregon’s homeless population climbed 19% and Maryland’s grew 17%.
North Carolina experienced the largest single-state surge, adding roughly 3,886 people to its count — a 33% jump. Much of that increase is tied to Hurricane Helene, which swept through the region in fall 2024 and displaced thousands of residents. The state responded by adding approximately 4,000 emergency shelter beds.
New York continued to carry the heaviest concentration of any state, with an estimated 73 homeless individuals per 10,000 residents, compared to a national rate of 22 per 10,000. The emergency shelter population nationwide fell 4%, while the unsheltered total declined 3%.
Families Among Bright Spots
One of the more encouraging findings in the 2025 data involved families with children. That subset of the homeless population dropped 11% compared to the prior year’s count, a steeper decline than the overall figure. The reasons for that improvement were not detailed in the count’s summary data.
Policy Backdrop
The January 2025 snapshot was completed before the Trump administration announced a change in federal homeless policy direction. The administration has signaled a move away from the long-term supportive housing model that has guided federal strategy for years, pivoting instead toward transitional housing programs that pair shelter with work requirements and addiction treatment. That policy shift could shape both federal funding flows and how future counts are interpreted.
Housing affordability has emerged as a central concern in many Western states, including Montana, where rising home prices and second-home ownership patterns have drawn national scrutiny. Advocates and policymakers have debated for years whether short-term shelter capacity or longer-term affordable housing investment does more to reduce chronic homelessness — a debate the federal policy change is likely to intensify.
Child welfare officials have also noted the intersection of housing instability and family separation. Montana recently joined a federal foster care initiative aimed at reducing out-of-home placements, a program that housing advocates say is difficult to separate from the broader question of family homelessness.
Long View
Despite the year-over-year improvement, the 27% rise since 2013 underscores the scale of the challenge. A single-year 3% decline leaves the overall count well above its level from a decade ago, and advocates caution that point-in-time figures — conducted on a single night in January — tend to undercount the true scope of housing instability. The 2026 count, which will be the first conducted fully under the new federal policy framework, is expected to draw close attention from housing researchers and state administrators alike.
