Number of Homeless Seniors
America’s population of homeless seniors is increasing. Exactly how many homeless senior citizens are there in the U.S.?
According to the 2024 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress, more than 104,000 people experiencing homelessness were aged 55 to 64, and approximately 42,000 people were over age 64. There’s not a lot of data on how many homeless people are in their 70s and 80s. Providers who work with homeless people explain that harsh living conditions of chronic homelessness accelerate aging, and that those people are less likely to survive into old age.
People aged 50 or older are the fastest-growing group of people experiencing homelessness in America. The number of elderly homeless people is expected to triple between 2019 and 2030 unless more is done to expand affordable housing and services to older adults.
What do these numbers tell us about rising elderly homelessness?
- Many chronically homeless individuals have aged without ever securing stable housing.
- More older adults are becoming homeless for the first time. Between 2019 and 2023, first-time homelessness rose by 23% across all age groups.
In the first pathway, chronically homeless individuals continue to age without stable housing. They were homeless as middle-aged adults and did not obtain housing before aging into the senior population.
In the second pathway, older and elderly individuals who have had homes or stable apartments experience homelessness for the first time. During middle age, most Baby Boomers were okay financially; however, the 2008 Recession hit them hard. Many lost wealth from investments or property, and some lost their homes. This made homelessness much more likely for people in their age group. The COVID-19 pandemic also caused people to lose their jobs or have higher medical bills, increasing the risk of homelessness.
Then there’s inflation, a severe housing shortage, and medical debt that’s up 50% in just a few years. In 2021, the average family owed nearly $19,000 compared to $12,430 in 2017. When you add it all up, it’s no wonder so many people are struggling to find a place to live.
Unique Challenges Homeless Seniors Face
Seniors not only experience distinct pathways into homelessness, but they also face unique barriers that make it harder to escape it. Limited physical and cognitive abilities can prevent many older adults from working, forcing them to rely on fixed incomes such as Social Security, modest retirement savings, or support from family—none of which may be enough to cover today’s rising housing costs.
Declining health often introduces new financial burdens. The cost of managing serious illnesses like cancer or heart disease can quickly consume what little income a person has, leaving less money for rent, mortgage payments, or basic necessities. This creates a ripple effect: mounting medical debt can lead to overdrawn accounts, missed payments, and reliance on high-interest loans. In fact, according to the Community Economic Defense Project, roughly two-thirds of people facing eviction or foreclosure carry medical debt.
For many older adults, homelessness isn’t triggered by a single crisis. It’s a slow chain reaction—health declines, savings disappear, housing becomes unaffordable. One setback leads to another, until the support system collapses entirely.
