Survey Finds 1 in 10 Young Adults Experienced Homelessness Last Year

hands holding wooden house

A survey conducted by the University of Chicago’s Chapin Hall found that one in ten individuals between ages 18 and 25 experienced homelessness between 2016 and 2017, totaling over 4 million young adults and adolescents. Communities across the country conduct "point in time" homelessness counts annually, which count all people experiencing homelessness within a community on one day in January, but this is the first nationally representative survey that captures a broader scope of youth homelessness in the US by looking over a longer timeframe and including non-permanent living situations such as couch surfing in addition to “traditional” manifestations of homelessness like staying in emergency shelters.

In North Carolina, over 900 youth and young adults were counted as homeless in the 2017 annual point-in-time count. To learn more about homelessness in the state, visit the North Carolina Coalition to End Homelessness’s website.