Homelessness in Ohio

The 2022 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress, produced by The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, estimated that 10,654 Ohioans faced homelessness during the year, representing 9 in every 10,000 individuals.^[1] Over 80% of the homeless were sheltered.^[1] This population was made up of 3,214 people who belonged to families with children, 703 unaccompanied youth, 633 veterans, and 1,023 chronically homeless individuals.^[1]

Homelessness in Ohio has been declining, as Ohio ranks as one of the U.S. states with lower rates of homelessness and has a strong support system in place for the homeless population.^[1] Although unchanged in recent years, the 2022 homeless population in Ohio saw a 5.4% decrease from 2007.^[1] The AHAR concluded that since 2007, Ohio had seen the fourth largest decrease by state in chronic homelessness, with 1,285, or 55.7%, of the chronically homeless population escaping the cycle.^[1] However, all three major cities in Ohio experienced increased homeless populations due to housing shortages in 2023.^[2][3][4]

In a 1986 study of nearly 1,000 homeless individuals in Ohio, it was determined that Ohio's homeless population was quite different from traditional homeless communities. Most of the studied individuals had lived in no more than two places in the month before the study, with 65% of them having either been born in the county they lived in or lived in that county for at least a year.^[5] Furthermore, 87% of the population had held a job in the past, and 25% had been working in the month before being interviewed.^[5]