NEW YORK — Homelessness in New York State rose more than 50% from 2023 to 2024, more than four times the rest of the country, according to a new report released in January by the New York State Comptroller’s Office.

The increase was almost entirely focused in the New York City area which saw an influx of asylum seekers the report stated.

Statewide the number of homeless children increased from 20,299 in 2022 to 50,773 in 2024 meaning one in three people experiencing homelessness in New York are kids; one of the highest rates in the nation.

“New York has long had a housing affordability crisis, and more families are running out of options and ending up on the street or in shelters,” Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement. “Many of the tens of thousands of asylum seekers that came to New York had no place to stay and drove up spending and a large portion of the growth of the homeless population. But let’s be clear, this isn’t just a New York City problem, it is impacting communities all over the state. New York needs to examine how it’s using current housing resources while taking more action to address this urgent situation.”

While NYC accounted for 93% of the state’s total homeless increase, upstate regions also struggled to keep up with the number of families experiencing homelessness.

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The Jamestown, Dunkirk/Chautauqua County area saw its total number of homeless individuals double (103% increase). Homeless children and families went up by 141% and 150% between 2022 and 2024.

• Buffalo, Niagara Falls/Erie, Niagara, Orleans, Genesee, Wyoming Counties
  • Total # of homeless: 1,549 – 81% increase
  • Under 18/Children: 59% increase
  • Families: 69% increase
• Rochester, Irondequoit, Greece/Monroe County
  • Total # of homeless: 1,056 – 41% increase
  • Under 18/Children: 51% increase
  • Families: 70% increase
• Elmira/Steuben, Allegany, Livingston, Chemung, Schuyler
  • Total # of homeless: 686 – 38% increase
  • Under 18/Children: 67% increase
  • Families: 68% increase

According to the Comptroller’s report, New York is not alone.

Nationwide the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) found homelessness reached a new peak with 771,480 people experiencing homelessness in 2024, 158,019 of those individuals were New Yorkers or about one in five (140,134 in New York City).

New York’s rate of homelessness, at about 8 per 1,000 people, was higher than all states except Hawaii and the District of Columbia. According to HUD, eviction proceedings, lack of affordable housing, increased rents, and the influx of asylum seekers were the leading causes of homelessness in New York.

Other findings in the report, highlighted by the NYS Comptroller’s Office, include:

• Homelessness decreased in New York between 2020 and 2022, but since 2022 and the end of pandemic era eviction moratoriums, it has increased faster than the rest of the nation, more than doubling between 2022 and 2024 compared to only 20.7% growth in the rest of the nation. Only Illinois had a higher increase at 180%.
• People who were homeless were disproportionately Hispanic or Black, and 10% suffered from severe mental illness or chronic substance abuse.
• Homelessness among veterans remains low, at less than 1%. New York also had among the lowest shares of senior homelessness (2.5%) and chronically homeless (3.6%) among other states.
• The Poughkeepsie/Dutchess County area saw the lowest overall increase in its homeless population at 11% while the Glens Falls and Saratoga Springs region saw the highest at 138%.

For more information, visit the New York State Comptroller website here.

To read the full report, visit the link here