Nationwide 2017 Homeless Count Numbers Broken Down by Region in U.S.


Nationwide 2017 Homeless Count Numbers Broken Down by Region in U.S.
-The Increase in the Pacific Region is Significant-
-California is Particularly Noteworthy-
A brief prepared by Joe Colletti, PhD
The U. S. Census Bureau defines four statistical regions in the United States and divides them into nine divisions as outlined in the tables below. Nearly one-third (32.5%) of all the persons who were counted as homeless during the nation-wide 2017 homeless count last January, were counted in Region 4: West; Division 9, which included the states of Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington.
The following table shows a comparison of the nation-wide 2017 homeless count with the 2016 homeless count for Region 4: West; Division 9, which had a significant increase (10.1%) when compared to all other regional divisions that either had decreases or a slight increase of approximately 1% as noted in the tables below.
Homeless count numbers were gathered from the Continuum of Care (CoC) Homeless Assistance Programs Homeless Populations and Subpopulations Reports provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
States highlighted in red are those that experienced an increase between 2016 and 2017.
Table 1. Comparison of the total number of persons counted as homeless in 2016 and 2017 in Region 4: West; Division 9: Pacific (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington)
2016
2017
Difference
#
%
Alaska
1,940
1,845
-95
-4.9
California
118,142
134,278
+16,136
+13.7
Hawaii
7,921
7,220
-701
-8.8
Oregon
13,238
13,953
+715
+5.4
Washington
20,827
21,112
+285
+1.4
Total:
162,068
178,408
+16,340
+10.1
Tables 2 - 9 provide a comparison of the total number of persons counted as homeless in 2016 and 2017 for each of the other regional divisions.
Table 2. Comparison of the total number of persons counted as homeless in 2016 and 2017 in Region 1: Northeast; Division 1: New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont)
2016
2017
Difference
#
%
Connecticut
3,902
3,388
-514
-13.2
Maine
2,241
2,280
+39
+1.7
Massachusetts
19,608
17,565
-2,043
-10.4
New Hampshire
1,366
1,456
+90
+6.6
Rhode Island
1,160
1,180
+20
+1.7
Vermont
1,117
1,225
+108
+9.7
Total:
29,394
27,094
-2,300
-7.8
Table 3. Comparison of the total number of persons counted as homeless in 2016 and 2017 in Region 1: Northeast; Division 2: Mid-Atlantic (New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania)
2016
2017
Difference
#
%
New Jersey
8,895
8,536
-359
-4.0
New York
86,352
89,503
+3,151
+3.6
Pennsylvania
15,339
14,138
-1,201
-7.8
Total:
110,586
112,177
+1,591
+1.4
Table 4. Comparison of the total number of persons counted as homeless in 2016 and 2017 in Region 2: Midwest; Division 3: East North Central (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin)
2016
2017
Difference
#
%
Illinois
11,590
10,798
-792
-6.8
Indiana
5,798
5,438
-360
-6.2
Michigan
9,316
9,051
-265
-2.8
Ohio
10,404
10,095
-309
-3.0
Wisconsin
5,685
5,027
-658
-11.6
Total:
42,793
40,409
-2,384
-5.6
Table 5. Comparison of the total number of persons counted as homeless in 2016 and 2017 in Region 2: Midwest; Division 4: West North Central (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota)
2016
2017
Difference
#
%
Iowa
3,064
2,756
-308
-10.1
Kansas
2,255
2,098
-157
-7.0
Minnesota
7,341
7,668
+327
+4.5
Missouri
6,441
6,226
-215
-3.3
Nebraska
2,754
2,501
-253
-9.2
North Dakota
923
1,089
+166
+18.0
South Dakota
1,072
943
-129
-12.0
Total:
23,850
23,281
-569
-2.4
Table 6. Comparison of the total number of persons counted as homeless in 2016 and 2017 in Region 3: South; Division 5: South Atlantic (Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, District of Columbia, and West Virginia)
2016
2017
Difference
#
%
Delaware
1,070
994
-76
-7.1
District of Columbia
8,350
7,473
-877
-10.5
Florida
33,559
32,190
-1,369
-4.1
Georgia
12,909
10,174
-2,735
-21.2
Maryland
7,689
7,247
-442
-5.7
North Carolina
9,559
8,962
-597
-6.2
Virginia
6,268
6,067
-201
-3.2
West Virginia
1,387
1,309
-78
-5.6
Total:
80,791
74,416
-6,375
-7.9
Table 7. Comparison of the total number of persons counted as homeless in 2016 and 2017 in Region 3: South; Division 6: East South Central (Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Tennessee)
2016
2017
Difference
#
%
Alabama
4,111
3,793
-318
-7.7
Kentucky
4,237
4,025
-212
-5.0
Mississippi
1,738
1,472
-266
-15.3
Missouri
6,441
6,226
-215
-3.3
Tennessee
8,779
8,309
-470
-5.4
Total:
25,306
23,825
-1,481
-5.8
Table 8. Comparison of the total number of persons counted as homeless in 2016 and 2017 in Region 3: South; Division 7: West South Central (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas)
2016
2017
Difference
#
%
Arkansas
2,463
2,467
+4
+0.2
Louisiana
3,994
3,305
-689
-17.3
Oklahoma
4,107
4,199
+92
+2.2
Texas
23,122
23,548
+426
+1.8
Total:
33,686
33,519
-167
-0.4
Table 9. Comparison of the total number of persons counted as homeless in 2016 and 2017 in Region 4: West; Division 8: Mountain (Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming)
2016
2017
Difference
#
%
Arizona
9,707
8,947
-760
-7.8
Colorado
10,550
10,940
+390
+3.7
Idaho
2,247
2,037
-210
-9.3
Montana
1,418
1,529
+111
+7.8
Nevada
7,398
7,833
+435
+5.9
New Mexico
2,263
2,482
+219
+9.7
Utah
2,807
2,852
+45
+1.6
Wyoming
857
873
+16
+1.9
Total:
37,247
37,493
+246
+0.6

Upcoming briefs will focus more closely on California by comparing the state to all other states for when California is momentarily removed from the 2016 and 2017 homeless count results, the rest of the country collectively experienced a similar annual decrease in 2017 as during the other years of this decade.  
A closer look is important because not all jurisdictions within California contributed to the increase.
A closer look is also important because of all the recent legislation that may have contributed to an increase in homelessness, including the recent passing of legislation and ballot initiatives that focused on re-sentencing and early release from correctional institutions.
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For more information regarding the results of the 2017 homeless count and next steps, see  
  • 2017 AHAR: Part 1 - PIT Estimates of Homelessness in the U.S, which is a report published by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which "outlines the key findings of the 2017 Point-In-Time (PIT) count and Housing Inventory Count (HIC) conducted in January 2017. Specifically, this report provides 2017 national, state, and CoC-level PIT and HIC estimates of homelessness, as well as estimates of chronically homeless persons, homeless veterans, and homeless children and youth."

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