Statistics of Homelessness

Every three years, Wilder Research Center conducts a one-day study of the number of people experiencing homelessness throughout Minnesota. It is the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind in the nation. The Center conducted its latest study on October 26, 2006.

This graph illustrates the increasing numbers of Minnesotans affected by homelessness

Each night, approximately 9,000 individuals experience homelessness. This is little changed from the number who were homeless on any given night in 2003. However, Wilder’s survey results show an increasing level of distress among the homeless, with rising rates of many disabilities.

Of the 9,000 individuals who experience homelessness each night, about 7,000 are “fortunate” enough to receive shelter from a variety of homeless service providers across the state, according to a number of quarterly shelter surveys conducted by the Department of Human Services over the past few years. Unfortunately, due to inadequate resources, sheltering programs turn away about 1,000 individuals each night. Worse yet, neither of these numbers include the hundreds of individuals who spend the night in a place not meant for human habitation, such as under a bridge or in a car.

Children and unaccompanied youth regularly account for nearly half of those sheltered and turned away.

Shelter numbers do not completely represent the homeless population.

Homeless Children and Youth in Minnesota

Children, youth, and young adults age 21 and younger made up 45 percent of all people experiencing homelessness in Minnesota the night of the survey. A total of 2,726 children age 17 and younger experienced homelessness with their parents on the night of the survey.
69 percent of homeless women had children under age 18, and 55 percent had at least one child with them; for men, the percentages were 35 percent and 6 percent respectively.
On any given night in Minnesota , between 550 and 650 unaccompanied youth in Minnesota (persons 17 or younger) are without permanent shelter; over the course of one year, an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 Minnesota unaccompanied youth experience at least one episode of homelessness.
89 percent of homeless youth are enrolled in school.
51 percent of the youth experiencing homelessness have been physically or sexually mistreated.

Challenges and Struggles

The employment rate for homeless adults in 2006 fell to 28 percent, with 12 percent working full time. From 1991 to 2000, the percentage of employed homeless adults more than doubled from 19 percent to 41 percent. The proportion working full-time rose over the same decade from 7.5 percent to 26 percent.
33 percent of homeless adults (and 45 percent of women) reported that they had stayed in an abusive relationship because they had nowhere else to live.
52 percent of homeless adults reported a diagnosed significant mental health problem compared to 47 percent in 2003).
26 percent of homeless adults have less than a high school education (47 percent have completed high school or a GED; 27 percent have some amount of post-secondary education).
54 percent of adults reported experiencing long term homelessness (continuously homeless for one year or more, or four episodes of homeless within a three year period).
69 percent have lived in institutional arrangements. 65 percent of those who had recently left correctional facilities, and 57 percent of those leaving other kinds of institutions did not have a stable place to live when they left.

Demographics of Homelessness

Homelessness disproportionately impacts communities of color. For example, in a state that is more than 80 percent white, 38 of homeless adults and 25 percent of homeless youth are African American. Of the general population, only 3 percent of adults and 5 percent of youth are African American. 11 percent of homeless adults and 20 percent of homeless youth are Native American. Of the general population, only 1 percent of adults and 2 percent of youth are Native American.
59 percent of homeless adults have lived in Minnesota for more than 10 years; 69 percent have lived here more than five years. The percentage of people experiencing homelessness who have lived in Minnesota for two years or less has dropped from 39 percent in 1991 to 23 percent in 2006. Of those in Minnesota for two years or less, one-third had lived in Minnesota before.

Homelessness in Rural Minnesota

Just under one-third (20 percent) of Minnesotans experiencing homelessness were living outside the Twin Cities. Homeless adults are similar across the state on many measures, including education levels, ages, how long they have living in Minnesota and their main sources of income. On other measures, however, the picture in Greater Minnesota differs:

42 percent of children were in short-term, emergency arrangements (vs. 26 percent in the metro area).
28 percent of men were veterans (vs. 22 percent in the metro area).
61 percent have a chronic health condition (vs. 54 percent in the metro area).
35 percent of women were escaping abuse (vs. 30 percent in the metro area)

Voices of Change