Massachusetts ranks as the state with the ninth highest rate of homeless in the country. According to estimations by US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Massachusetts has 290 homeless per 100,000 people in 2013.

The Washington Post reported that in 2013 the national rate of homelessness was about 195 out of 100,000 people.

The top ten highest homelessness rates per 100,000 in the US for 2013 according to the data were: Washington DC (1133), Hawaii (465), New York (399), California (367), Oregon (360), Nevada (312), North Dakota (306), Massachusetts (290), Arkansas (274).

The Washington Post notes that Washington DC is well above the national average because it is a metropolitan area.

Five states fell under 100 homeless per 100,000 people: Alabama (98), Virginia (95), Kansas (94), Indiana (94), Mississippi (81).


In 2013 The Boston Globe reported that a record number of homeless families were using a Massachusetts sponsored emergency shelter system.

The Globe reported in October 2013:

“An average of nearly 2,100 families a night — an all-time high — were temporarily housed in motel rooms in October, just about equaling the number of families in emergency shelters across the state, according to be the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.’’

The Globe also reported:

“A recent report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development said the number of homeless people in shelters and living on the streets in Massachusetts has risen 14 percent since 2010 to nearly 20,000 in January 2013, even as homelessness has declined nationally.’’

The Washington Post said that since 2007, the United States homeless population has dropped 9 percent.

In June, Mayor Marty Walsh announced that Boston received $1.2 million in federal funding for homeless in Boston from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s Continuum Care program.