How Housing Costs Drive Levels of Homelessness
"Homelessness is high in urban areas where rents are high."
What It’s About
Horowitz, Hatchett, and Staveski underscore the strength of housing affordability as the dominant factor influencing rising homelessness rates, significantly outweighing other explanations like mental health or substance abuse.
Upshot
The authors outline two critical insights:
- Rent Increases Cause Homelessness: Sharp increases in rent and high rent levels both directly correlate with rising levels of homelessness in urban areas
- Housing Supply Matters: Cities with restrictive zoning codes, such as Fresno and Tucson, saw substantial increases in homelessness due to insufficient housing supply relative to growing demand. Meanwhile, metro areas that expand their housing supply, particularly through relaxed zoning, experience smaller increases or even reductions in homelessness
Why It Matters
Substance abuse and mental illness are often suggested to explain rising homelessness, but they do not. Limited housing availability does.
Who Wrote It
Alex Horowitz is the Director of Pew’s Housing Policy Initiative
Chase Hatchett is a Principal Associate with Pew’s Housing Policy Initiative.
Adam Staveski is a Principal Associate with Pew’s Housing Policy Initiative.