Joe Biden’s Legacy: Homelessness Hits Record with 18 Percent Increase in 2024 Alone

Homelessness grew 18 percent in 2024 alone, fueled by rising prices and a surge of migrants, the Department of Housing and Urban Development admitted in a Friday report.

Perhaps homelessness, more than any other issue, will define President Joe Biden’s legacy.

The 18 percent increase comes on top of a 12 percent increase in 2023.

Progress against homelessness was made from 2010 to 2017 (637,000-554,000), according to the report, but spiked under Biden’s watch to 770,000 in 2024, the largest annual increase since the count began in 2007.

“Some communities reported data to HUD that indicated that the rise in overall homelessness was a result of their work to shelter a rising number of asylum seekers coming into their communities,” the report acknowledged:

Migration had a particularly notable impact on family homelessness, which rose 39% from 2023-2024. In the 13 communities that reported being affected by migration, family homelessness more than doubled. Whereas in the remaining 373 communities, the rise in families experiencing homelessness was less than 8%. Rents have also stabilized significantly since January 2024. Since then, HUD has added 435,000 new rental units in the first three quarters of 2024; that’s more than 120,000 new units each quarter. The PIT Count was conducted at the tail of significant increases in rental costs, as a result of the pandemic and nearly decades of under-building of housing. Rents are flat or even down in many cities since January.

Among the most concerning trends was a nearly 40% rise in family homelessness — one of the areas that was most affected by the arrival of migrants in big cities. Family homelessness more than doubled in 13 communities impacted by migrants including Denver, Chicago and New York City, according to HUD, while it rose less than 8% in the remaining 373 communities. Nearly 150,000 children experienced homelessness on a single night in 2024, reflecting a 33% jump from last year.

“Nearly every category of unhoused people grew, with the rise especially steep among children and people in families,” the New York Times reported.

Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former RNC War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.