not all of these are immediately available for habitation, but they are counted as vacant in federal statistics[1][2][3].
In contrast, the number of **homeless people in the U.S. has reached a record high of about 771,000 to 771,480 individuals** on a single night in January 2024, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and several recent reports[4][5][6].
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This figure represents a significant increase from previous years.
To summarize:
- **Vacant homes in the US**: ~14,900,000[1][2][3]
- **Homeless people in the US (2024)**: ~771,000[4][5][6]
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Sources
[1] There Are Nearly 15 Million Vacant Homes in America ... - Realtor.com https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/states-with-most-vacant-homes/
[2] Here's how many homes are sitting vacant across the US https://www.livenowfox.com/news/heres-how-many-homes-sitting-vacant-across-us-where
[3] 14.9 Million Homes Are Vacant in US | LendingTree https://www.lendingtree.com/home/mortgage/vacancy-rates-study/
[4] Number Of Homeless In U.S.: Trends & Top States (2025) https://www.consumershield.com/articles/how-many-homeless-us
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[5] Who is homeless in the United States? A 2025 update https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/2025/who-is-homeless-in-the-united-states-a-2025-update
[6] How many homeless people are in the US? What does the data miss? https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-homeless-people-are-in-the-us-what-does-the-data-miss/
[7] How many vacant homes are there in the US? - USAFacts https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-vacant-homes-are-there-in-the-us/
[8] How Many Houses Are in the U.S.? - United Way NCA https://unitedwaynca.org/blog/vacant-homes-vs-homelessness-by-city/
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[9] Vacant Housing Units in the United States (EVACANTUSQ176N ... https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/EVACANTUSQ176N
[10] State of Homelessness: 2024 Edition https://endhomelessness.org/state-of-homelessness/
[11] Despite Housing Shortage, America Has 5.6 Million Vacant Homes https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/cities-with-most-vacant-homes-lendingtree-study/
[12] Debunking NIMBYism: A Closer Look at Vacant Housing Units - NMHC https://www.nmhc.org/research-insight/research-notes/2022/debunking-nimbyism-a-closer-look-at-vacant-housing-units/
[13] Homelessness in the United States - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_the_United_States
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[14] HUD Releases 2024 Annual Homeless Assessment Report https://nlihc.org/resource/hud-releases-2024-annual-homeless-assessment-report
[15] Homelessness Data & Trends | United States Interagency Council ... https://usich.gov/guidance-reports-data/data-trends
[16] [PDF] The 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR to ... https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2024-AHAR-Part-1.pdf
[17] Nearly 327,000 in U.S. Lived in Emergency and Transitional Shelters https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/02/living-in-shelters.html
[18] U.S. homelessness surged a record 18% in 2024 - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PghmdwGO5fQ
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Aug 2, 2025, 1:47 AM@jsonstein
19 vacant homes per unhoused person.