--- description: A quarter of them are children, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development title: U.S. Has Nearly 565,000 Homeless, New Report Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta40152814f23820b/6988721d524fc09512df5964/gettyimages-496784896.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [poverty](/tag/poverty/) ## poverty Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # There Are Nearly 565,000 Homeless People in the U.S., a New Report Says by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 20, 2015 6:39 AM CUT  Members of a homeless community hang out on the sidewalk in the Ivy City neighborhood in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 16, 2015 Members of a homeless community hang out on the sidewalk in the Ivy City neighborhood in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 16, 2015Ricky Carioti—The Washington Post/Getty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 20, 2015 6:39 AM CUT The U.S. had well over half a million homeless people this year, a quarter of which were children, a new report released on Thursday showed. The study, by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, recorded the total number of homeless at close to 565,000, Reuters reported. Despite that being 2% less than the homeless population in 2014, major states like New York and California — the two largest in terms of population — have seen an increase, and advocates say the national decline, prompted by a reduction in 33 states, is negligible. “I am glad it’s trending downward,” Nan Roman, president of Washington, D.C–based National Alliance to End Homelessness, told Reuters, “but a 2% change is pretty much flat.” \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/20/us-usa-homelessness-idUSKCN0T908720151120#ZD7MqXdKEb87pgBm.97 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4121679/us-homeless-children-poverty/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4121679/us-homeless-children-poverty/"},"headline":"There Are Nearly 565,000 Homeless People in the U.S., a New Report Says","datePublished":"2015-11-20T06:39:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:47:52.224Z","description":"One-fourth of them are children","url":"https://time.com/4121679/us-homeless-children-poverty/","keywords":["poverty","California","New York","Report","homeless"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta40152814f23820b/6988721d524fc09512df5964/gettyimages-496784896.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta40152814f23820b/6988721d524fc09512df5964/gettyimages-496784896.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 16: Members of the homeless community","caption":"WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 16: Members of the homeless community","creditText":"Ricky Carioti—The Washington Post/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/poverty/","name":"poverty"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4121679/us-homeless-children-poverty/","name":"There Are Nearly 565,000 Homeless People in the U.S., a New Report Says"}}]}] ```