Statistics and Educational Information
Homelessness in the SF Bay Area
- There are 1,623 homeless kids in the San Francisco school system (SF Unified School Districts).
- There are approximately 35,000 homeless people living in the Bay Area at a given time (SF Bay Area counties point-in-time counts).
- 30-40% of the Bay Area homeless are families (Association of Bay Area Governments). In Alameda County, families comprise 43% of the homeless population (EveryOne Home).
- 62% live on the streets during the night (Association of Bay Area Governments).
- San Francisco has the highest per capita rate of homelessness of any major American city. 7,000 homeless people live in SF at a given time. Some estimates put the number as high as 15,000 (SF Plan to Abolish Chronic Homelessness).
- Only 15% of the homeless in SF are from out of state. Another 15% are from out of the city. Over 60% of SF’s homeless are natives (SF Bay Area counties point-in-time counts).
- The care of one chronically homeless person using Emergency Room services and/or incarceration costs SF an average of $61,000/yr, whereas permanent, supportive housing, with treatment and care, would cost around $16,000/yr. (SF Ten Year Plan to Abolish Chronic Homelessness)
Homelessness across the United States
- It is estimated that 3.5 million people experience homelessness over the course of a year in the U.S. 1.35 million of them (39%) are children.
- At any given point in time, up to 800,000 people are homeless in the United States (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development).
- Up to 40% of the homeless population are part of homeless families. Typically, that means a single mother with kids (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development).
- About half are single men and about one sixth are single women (The National Coalition for the Homeless).
- 16% are mentally ill (The National Coalition for the Homeless).
- Up to 50% of homeless women cite domestic abuse as the reason for being without a home (The National Coalition for the Homeless).
- Up to 20% of homeless people have full-time jobs (The National Coalition for the Homeless).
- 30% of adults in homeless families have full-time jobs (The National Coalition for the Homeless).
- About $2 billion is spent on federal programs dedicated to helping homeless people. Compare this to the fact that, the U.S. has allocated $515.4 billion for defense spending in the fiscal year 2009.
According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors 2007 Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness, mental illness was cited as the primary cause of homelessness among singles and unaccompanied youth. Among families, the leading cause was overwhelmingly cited as the lack of affordable housing. Overall, the lack of affordable housing is the leading cause of homelessness.
When asked what are the best ways to reduce homelessness, 87% of the cities surveyed in this report said more permanent housing; 60% said ‘Other,’ which includes more rental housing subsidies, more housing vouchers, more affordable housing, additional funding, housing retention and eviction services, and jobs that pay a living wage as keys to ending homelessness. 52% of cities said more mental health services.