How many people become homeless each year?

Approximately 3.5 million people become homeless in the United States during the course of a given year, according to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. Information on the extent of homelessness in the United States is difficult to quantify because of the nature of the problem.

Of the total number of people experiencing homelessness during the course of a particular year, 1.35 million are estimated to be children, according to the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. The total number of people experiencing homelessness in the United States in a year is estimated to about 10 percent of the people living in poverty, according to the Urban Institute.