How The White House's Claims About D.c. Homelessness Compare To The Data

About 70 bum encampments successful nan nation’s superior person been taken down successful caller months, but those efforts intensified this week aft President Donald Trump deployed members of nan National Guard to reside what he said was a metropolis “overtaken by convulsive gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of chaotic youth, drugged retired maniacs and bum people.”

On Thursday, a bum encampment adjacent nan Kennedy Center — for which Trump serves arsenic president — was dismantled by metropolis workers who shoved people’s belongings into garbage trucks.

The president’s move comes arsenic crime and homelessness are some reported astatine aliases adjacent decade lows successful D.C. So really dire is nan city’s bum situation? Here is simply a breakdown of immoderate of nan data.

Homelessness successful D.C. has been declining successful nan agelong run, but has fluctuated successful caller years

The latest metropolis numbers show that arsenic of 2025, astir 5,000 group are successful shelters aliases connected nan streets of D.C., a alteration of 9% from 2024.

The metropolis is an outlier: Most of nan remainder of nan state has had increases successful their bum organization successful caller years.

Compared to changes successful nan nationalist bum population, D.C. is unusual. As nationalist numbers person increased, nan District of Columbia’s person fallen.

The figures show a important driblet complete nan past decade successful D.C.; successful 2016, much than 8,000 group were unhoused, though location person been fluctuations complete caller years, successful portion owed to nan Covid-19 pandemic.

D.C.’s bum count deed a debased successful 2022 arsenic nan authorities issued accelerated rehousing vouchers. This emergency backing from nan Biden management provided lodging for people, including successful vacant hotels.

“The numbers came down successful 2022 erstwhile location was existent lodging taking place,” said Hilary Silver, a professor of sociology, world affairs and nationalist argumentation astatine George Washington University. “And past that money ran out.”

The District’s bum organization roseate from 4,922 individuals successful 2023 to 5,615 successful 2024, according to nan U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s point-in-time count of bum people. Most of Washington, D.C.’s bum organization is concentrated successful busy, cardinal areas wherever visitors and residents intersect, including downtown, Union Station, Georgetown and Foggy Bottom, Silver said.

Nationwide, much than 770,000 group were bum successful 2024, according to nan HUD data.

Which populations are astir affected by homelessness?

For a metropolis whose organization is 41% Black, D.C.’s bum organization is disproportionately Black, astatine 82.5%. Compare that to nan city’s achromatic population: 39.6%, pinch 6.6% homeless, according to nan U.S. Census Bureau. Sixty percent of each bum group are men.

When it comes to age, 7.9% of Washington, D.C.’s homelessness organization are elder citizens — compared pinch 5.5% of nan nationalist population. Also, 18.6% of those who are bum are nether 18, according to an NBC News study of HUD data.

Experts property homelessness successful D.C. to a deficiency of affordable housing, a shortage of jobs that salary livable wages and nan precocious costs of living.

According to Apartments.com data, nan costs of surviving successful Washington is 40% higher than nan nationalist mean and lodging costs are much than double nan nationalist average.

Challenges peculiar to D.C.’s Black bum organization see higher rates of disability, eviction and poverty, on pinch experiencing group discrimination, Silver said.

“Part of it is nan difficulties that African Americans ever look successful nan lodging market, but besides successful nan labour market,” Silver said. “They unrecorded successful neighborhoods wherever nan lodging is not successful very bully condition.” People who go bum are either evicted aliases forced retired of their homes and past enactment pinch friends and family. But “after a while,” Silver added, “they outlive their welcome.”

How was D.C. addressing homelessness earlier Trump’s order?

Donald Whitehead Jr., nan executive head of nan National Coalition for nan Homeless, attributes nan driblet successful homelessness successful nan metropolis this twelvemonth to supportive lodging and targeting bum younker successful nan region.

“D.C. has an advantage complete galore communities pinch nan resources that are available,” Whitehead said. “D.C. had considerably much lodging vouchers than different communities. There has been a batch of activity astir making judge group were protected wrong nan system.”

Some programs see D.C. Flex, which provides low-income moving families pinch $8,400 per twelvemonth for up to 5 years. There’s besides nan Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act that allows tenants nan correct to acquisition their building if it is being sold.

Given really effective these programs person been, some Silver and Whitehead said that nan dismantling of nan district’s bum encampments will not reside nan guidelines causes of homelessness.

“I deliberation it demonizes people,” Whitehead said. “It minimizes their humanity. We cognize that erstwhile location is simply a batch of speech astir group experiencing homelessness successful a antagonistic way, we spot nan summation of unit against that population.”

While encampment sweeps are thing caller to Washington, those efforts accrued successful March. Silver said nan sweeps make it difficult for outreach teams to way and thief bum individuals. Instead of clearing specified encampments, experts advocator for much backing from nan national government, higher wages and much affordable housing. This includes nan “Housing First” approach, a model that prioritizes imperishable lodging to bum individuals truthful they tin spell aft their goals and person a amended value of life.

“We beforehand Housing First successful nan district, because erstwhile group person a spot — a unchangeable spot to enactment — past it’s easier for them to person nan services that are available,” she said.