Homelessness in U.S. Falls for Second Consecutive Year

Homelessness rates dropped by 6% in 2025, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Though the story was more widely covered on the left than on the right, right-leaning outlets that covered the story focused on President Donald Trump's efforts to support the issue, while left-leaning sources attributed the drop to a variety of causes.

The Details: The 6% drop in homelessness amounts to about 49,000 fewer people without housing in the US, and it is the second year in a row that homelessness has declined. HUD Secretary Scott Turner said, "President Trump's actions to secure the border, get criminal illegals off our streets, and restore safety to our communities drove a historic decrease in homelessness."

For Context: The HUD analysis found that there are still about 700,000 people living without permanent housing in the US, which is significantly higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic. The Trump administration cited its crackdown on immigration as well as its push to replace President Joe Biden's approach to housing with programs based on addiction treatment for the decline in homelessness. The Biden administration took a "Housing First" approach, which prioritizes providing shelter to unhoused people without requiring sobriety or addiction treatment, whereas the Trump administration favors a "Treatment First" approach, which aims to deal with substance abuse issues directly.

How the Media Covered It: New York Post (Right bias) highlighted that the Democrat-run city of Los Angeles, California, saw a 3.4% increase in homelessness, implying that this could be partially caused by its sanctuary city policies. The Post focused largely on the Trump era policies that may have contributed to the decline nationally. NPR (Lean Left) included the Trump administration's support for mandated addiction treatment in short-term housing facilities but also included criticism from leaders in homelessness advocacy. Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said that programs without such requirements contributed a large portion of the recent declines, particularly among homeless veterans, and remain important to getting people into shelters. New York Times (Lean Left) similarly cited a variety of reasons for the decline outside the Trump administration's efforts, including the softening of the housing market, housing-first programs funded by Congress, and natural disasters such as Hurricane Helene. 

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