Homelessness Not Confined to Cities

by Shannon Moriarty · 2009-10-03 11:00:00 UTC
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If you think homelessness is primarily an urban issue, think again. A new study from a national advocacy group illustrates the prevalence of homelessness in urban and rural areas across the country. The numbers - and the noted challenges of collecting homelessness data - speak for themselves.

Grayson County, Texas is not a big city. So many members of the Texas community assume homelessness is mostly a problem for Dallas or Houston. But according to the local news station, KXII, it's all relative. One shelter worker told the newstation that "homelessness is a much bigger problem in Texoma than anyone realizes." Indeed, all of the shelters in Grayson County are full and shelter workers believe people are living on the streets.

The latest study out from the National Alliance to End Homelessness, titled Geography of Homelessness, used 2007 homeless census counts and census data to determine the prevalence of homelessness in rural areas. As expected, the study found urban homelessness is more prevalent than any other type of area. But the study argued that this may be due to the intrinsic differences in the homeless population that make finding and counting homeless people in non-urban areas much more challenging.

First, many rural areas do not have shelters. Some communities do not have any kinds of social services whatsoever. Therefore, the report notes, extremely poor people in rural areas "do not stay in shelters but rather double-up with family or friends or live in substandard housing, and many leave rural areas in search of increased employment opportunities and homeless services."

Given the established difficulties of finding and counting the homeless in rural areas, the report's numbers illustrate of the potential scope of the problem:

  • Urban areas:  29 out of 10,000 persons are homeless

  • Mostly Urban areas: 19 out of 10,000 persons are homeless

  • Mixed Rural/Mostly Rural areas: 12 out of 10,000 persons are homeless

  • Mostly Rural areas, 8 out of 10,000 persons are homeless

  • Rural areas: 14 out of 10,000 persons are homeless

This data is critically important in understanding just how dire the homelessness situation in rural areas is as reported. It's extremely troubling to wonder to what extent we are under-counting these areas, particularly with a recession on our hands. Clearly, better effort need to be made in rural areas to meet the unique demands of this population. We know that when it comes to social services, one size definitely does not fit all.

Image from hubb-a-dubb's public Flickr photostream.

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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