The nation’s capital has the highest rate of homelessness, according to a new survey.
The “Hunger and Homeless Survey,” released by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, found that Washington, D.C., has 124 homeless people for every 10,000 residents in the general population.
Of the 32 cities studied by the Conference of Mayors, the rate of homelessness was 51 people per 10,000 residents. The national rate of homelessness is just 17 people per 10,000 residents in the general population.
The District of Columbia also had one of the highest increases in homelessness between 2009 and 2016, with a 34 percent gain. Over the same period, New York saw the largest increase at 49 percent.
D.C. also had one of the largest increases in homeless families between 2009 and 2016 — 103 percent. Only Wichita, Kansas at 161 percent saw a larger surge.
The office of Muriel Bowser, D.C.’s Democratic mayor, said the survey offers further proof that affordable housing and higher wages are needed.
“This report offers both encouragement for many of the things we are doing right in the district, as well as an honest assessment of additional steps we can take to reduce homelessness,” Bowser communications director Kevin Harris said in a statement. “The Mayor agrees that a comprehensive approach is needed to adequately address homelessness, including more affordable housing and higher wages — two areas this administration has led on through our minimum wage increase and an unprecedented $100 million annual investment in the affordable housing fund.”
The Conference of Mayors, which describes itself as a “non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more,” has been compiling reports on homelessness, poverty and hunger since 1982. This year’s report stems from data collected from the Housing and Urban Development’s January 2016 point-in-time count, which takes place when communities nationwide count homeless persons living in emergency shelter, transitional housing or on the street during the last 10 days of the month.
Despite the bad news for the nation’s capital, the report found that 65 percent of the 32 survey cities had decreases in the rates of homelessness since 2009. New York had the largest reported decrease, with 1,800 fewer homeless individuals.
The Conference of Mayors said it does the survey “to serve as a reference for policymakers and journalists on the extent of and solutions to hunger and homelessness in U.S. cities.”
Kate Wiley, the marketing and communications manager for So Others Might Eat, a D.C.-based nonprofit serving the area’s homeless, said the survey shows the need for more work.
“Now more than ever, we must all continue to work together to build a community in which economically vulnerable people can thrive,” Wiley said in a statement.
