Washington had sixth-highest U.S. homelessness rate in 2023
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Washington had the sixth-highest rate of homelessness among U.S. states last year, per a recently released federal report, and homelessness here rose faster than the national rate in recent years.
Why it matters: Freezing temperatures are forecast to hit the Pacific Northwest this week, leaving the estimated 28,036 Washington residents experiencing homelessness — about half of whom live outside — especially vulnerable.
- Gov. Jay Inslee has said getting more people indoors needs to be a focus of this year's state legislative session, which began Monday.
By the numbers: Last year, Washington had an estimated 36 people experiencing homelessness per 10,000 residents, per the annual report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
- That's 27% higher than the state's homelessness rate in 2019, which was 28.3 per 10,000 residents.
- Nationwide, the overall rate of homelessness rose by about 18% during the same period, from 17 per 10,000 residents to 20.
Of note: About half of Washington's homeless population lives in the Seattle-King County area, which had roughly 14,000 people experiencing homelessness last year, per the report.
Between the lines: HUD's annual report attempts to estimate the number of people experiencing homelessness on a single night — in this case, in late January 2023.
- That can offer a snapshot useful to policymakers, advocates, researchers and others.
Yes, but: Some advocates believe point-in-time counts can be misleading and may drastically underestimate the true number of unhoused people, as Axios Portland has reported.
The big picture: Nationwide, the reported number of people experiencing homelessness reached a record high in 2023, Axios' April Rubin reports, at about 653,100 people.
- The federal report points out that many pandemic-era social safety net programs — such as income protections and eviction moratoriums — expired throughout the year.
Of note: Washington's 2023 homelessness rate was lower than New York's (52.4 per 10,000); Vermont's (50.9 per 10,000); Oregon's (47.5 per 10,000); California's (46.5 per 10,000); and Hawaii's (43.2 per 10,000).
- Washington, D.C., had 73 people experiencing homelessness per 10,000 residents last year, more than double the rate in Washington state.
What we're watching: Local officials are conducting a new point-in-time count later this month, which will offer more insight about homelessness here.