Utah homelessness rising — mostly outside Salt Lake County
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Homelessness is rising in Utah, with a 10% increase last year in the number of people becoming homeless for the first time.
Driving the news: Utah has seen a 16% rise in people using temporary and emergency shelters since 2020, according to the state's annual homelessness report, released Thursday.
By the numbers: The number of Utahns experiencing homelessness on a given day in January rose more than 30% since 2019, according to the state's one-day "point in time" census.
- From 2020 to 2022, there was a 27% increase in the number of Utahns becoming homeless for the first time.
Of note: Chronic homelessness — when a person with a disabling condition has spent a total of one year unhoused in a 3-year period — rose 27% from January's count in 2022 to 2023.
- Mental illness rates in Utah's homeless population rose from about 28% to 41%, with substance abuse disorder rates growing from 16% to 26% from 2021 to 2022.
Zoom in: The number of unhoused people held fairly steady in Salt Lake County, and the percentage who obtained permanent housing after going to a shelter rose from 19% to 28%.
Yes, but: People in Salt Lake are homeless longer — 97 days on average, up from 93 days in 2021 and continuing a steady rise since 2019, when the average duration of homelessness was 68 days.
- Statewide, people remained unhoused for 73 days on average, down from 75 in 2020 and 2021.
The big picture: Most of the uptick in year-round counts occurred outside Salt Lake County, but that may be a result of other counties providing more housing options than they used to.
- Most people who are counted as "homeless" are added to the tally when they enter an emergency shelter — and in recent years, most of the state's new emergency shelter beds opened outside Salt Lake.
- Historically, Salt Lake County was home to nearly all of the state's homelessness services; there has been a recent push for other areas to provide more resources, over the objections of local leaders.
Zoom out: Homelessness has been a defining political issue throughout the West, with cities like Denver, Phoenix and Portland joining Salt Lake in a scramble to convert hotels to shelters, build tiny homes and set up sanctioned campgrounds.