Data regularly shows that the vast majority (80% and higher in many studies) of an area’s unsheltered population were residing in that area when they first became unsheltered. When a person is housed and then becomes homeless, they tend to stay in that same area. Even in warm and temperate places like San Francisco County and Los Angeles County, the majority of the unsheltered people residing there are from that area. In Los Angeles County 75% lived there when they first became homeless and over 55% had lived their for 10+ years before losing their housing.
People, whether they are sheltered or unsheltered, want to be close to friends and family. Most of us have a geographical place in mind when we think of ‘home’ and most people want to stay connected to that place and, more importantly, to the people in that place. In rural Polk County, for instance, the 2023 data says that 84% of people who were experiencing homelessness in rural Polk County had clear ties to the community.
