Overall, the national rate of homelessness rose by 0.3 percent to 552,830 people without stable living conditions, the report found. But that represented the second annual increase after seven straight years of declines — the result, in part, of rapidly increasing housing costs that have only recently shown signs of leveling off.
Ben Carson, secretary of HUD, attributed some of the increase to about 4,000 people who have been temporarily displaced from their homes, including by natural disasters.
But he also blamed the “headwinds of rising rents” for stubbornly high homelessness rates, which remain relatively flat despite what economists have called the most favorable labor market in generations.
The report relies on a locally conducted census of people in shelters and living outside, and those reporting chronic problems in finding shelter. Its conclusions have significant limitations.
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A handful of communities, including San Francisco, which has suffered a major increase in homelessness in recent years, did not participate in the 2018 national count. And some of the data presented Monday is nearly a year old, relying on a measurement culled from a head count taken on a single night each January.
In all, 31 states and the District of Columbia reported decreases in homelessness while 19 states reported increases.
The most notable increase took place in King County, Washington, which includes Seattle. Homelessness rates there rose by 4 percent. Homelessness increased by 2.8 percent in New York, which has been struggling to create additional affordable housing units while coping with a possible federal takeover of its troubled public housing authority.
The long-term trends are positive. Homelessness among military veterans declined by about 5.4 percent, attributed to an effort to encourage development of supportive housing for former service members. Rates of family and youth homelessness fell slightly over the last year.
But several states have had major increases in homelessness over the last decade, a crisis driven by gentrification and the lack of affordable apartments for city dwellers.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.