More people were homeless in Texas last year with 9.4 out of every 10,000 people having experienced homelessness at some point throughout the year, according to the 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report.
“The findings of the 2020 AHAR Part 1 Report are very troubling, even before you consider what COVID-19 has done to make the homelessness crisis worse,” Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia L. Fudge said.
The report findings include an increase in homelessness by 27,220 people or 5.3% over 2019, and a 2.2 percent increase, or 580,466 people in the nation, who experienced homelessness in the United States on a single night.
Of the people documented as homeless, 51.5% were sheltered while 48.5% were not.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
In Texas, 21,115 individuals, 6,114 persons in families, 1,408 unaccompanied youth, 1,949 veterans, and 3,862 chronically homeless individuals experienced homelessness in 2019. Almost all of those numbers increased in the 2020 study.
More homelessness statistics from the study were:
- On a single night in January 2020, 580,446 people, or 18 of every 10,000 people experiencing homelessness in the country
- Homelessness has increased in the last four consecutive years after a constant decline from 2010 to 2016
- A 7% increase in unsheltered individuals from 2019 to 2020
- 2020 was the first year in a decade that veteran homelessness did not decline
- Youth homelessness is slightly down 2.2% from 2019
- People of color are significantly over-represented among people experiencing homelessness
"Housing should be a right, not a privilege, and ensuring that every American has a safe, stable home is a national imperative,” Fudge said.
Texas News
News from around the state of Texas.
For more statistics from the HUD study click here.
