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Housing and homelessness in America’s cities are not evenly distributed. Some areas have more homeless people than anywhere else in the nation. But the poorest urban communities have more homeless people per capita than the poorest rural communities, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Public Affairs.
In Philadelphia, the Census Bureau found that 30.8% of residents are “unhoused.” Meanwhile, just over half — 51.6% — of Philadelphia’s population lives in “high-quality urban neighborhoods” with at least 40% of their residents being able to “rent a home or rent at least half the number of rooms for the typical resident.” This makes Philly one of the most densely populated cities in the U.S.
In 2017, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a list of the “cities at the center of America’s homeless crisis,” identifying Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco, Sacramento and San Diego as the most concentrated areas in this country. While these three cities are the worst, there are others, such as Detroit, Denver, Houston and Seattle, and the list continues to grow — as we will see below.
Data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Public Affairs on who is homeless. Image: Housing and Homelessness in America’s Cities / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
But these cities aren’t alone.
A 2017 report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition found, “As a share of America’s population, Philadelphia ranked second on the list of most concentrated