US California's homelessness keeps rising: report

SACRAMENTO - California, which has had the largest homeless population in the United States for years, has again reported a jump in homelessness.

The state had 181,399 homeless people in January 2023, an increase of 5.8 percent from 2022, according to a national report released by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development Friday.

California's homeless population accounted for 28 percent of the nation's total, by far the largest among all 50 states and Washington, DC.

The United States experienced a dramatic 12 percent increase in homelessness in 2023, the highest level since 2007, according to the report.

New York state reported the second-biggest homeless count in 2023, at 103,200, or 16 percent of the nation's total.

Though California led the nation's homeless population, New York saw the largest increase in homelessness between 2022 and 2023. New York had 29,022 more people unhoused in 2023, an increase of 39.1 percent over 2022.

All but nine states reported increases in homelessness between 2022 and 2023, according to the report.

It pointed to "interconnected key drivers" for the rising homelessness, including soaring rents, the end of the Federal eviction moratorium and the lack of affordable housing.

California also reported the highest rate of unsheltered people. Among those experiencing homelessness, 68 percent of them were unsheltered in the state.

In the United States, being houseless usually describes a situation where individuals may not live in traditional houses but still feel they have homes. Whether living in a tent encampment, sleeping in their vehicle, or returning to a specific spot each night, the area where they spend time and store items is considered home.

Compared to homelessness, an unsheltered person usually refers to someone living in an area not meant for human habitation, like a car, sidewalk or park.

California's unsheltered people accounted for 49 percent of the nation's total. This is nearly eight times the number of unsheltered people in the state, with the next highest number being in Florida.

The report shows that California had the largest number of individuals in the nation experiencing homelessness in 2023, at 155,000.

California has spent nearly 10 billion US dollars trying to tackle homelessness between 2018 and 2021, according to the Interagency Council on Homelessness in early 2023. But the number of homeless people keeps growing.

A statewide survey by the University of California, San Francisco, found deep poverty and lack of affordable housing are to blame.

Most people living on the streets in California lost their homes simply because the cost of housing had become unsustainable, according to the survey released in June.