Homelessness rose 18% in the U.S. this year as the affordable housing crisis, inflation, stagnant wages and natural disasters pummeled communities across the country, federal officials said Friday.

The United States saw an 18.1% increase in homelessness this year, a dramatic rise driven mostly by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a surge of migrants in several parts of the country,

Homelessness in the U.S. hit the highest level on record this year as the affordable housing crisis intensifies, federal regulators said Friday. The Department of Housing and Urban Development

According to the report, there are nearly 15,000 people experiencing homelessness in Arizona, a 3.5% increase from 2023.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said federally required tallies taken across the country in January found that more than 770,000 people were counted as homeless — a number that misses some people and does not include those staying with friends or family because they do not have a place of their own.

Ryan Yamamoto talks to Jennifer Friedenbach with the SF Coalition on Homelessness about the factors contributing to more unhoused people on the street.