Homelessness in High School: 2023

More students were homeless, associated with poor outcomes

More high school students experienced homelessness in the United States during 2023—compared to 2021—and homelessness is still related to high rates of a variety of problems. A group of us just released peer-reviewed findings documenting a 26% increase in student homelessness among high school students from 2021 to 2023. We used data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (called the ‘YRBS’ for short), which students fill out in high schools across the U.S. This allows us to estimate national rates of homelessness based on what students tell us about their own situation. About 3.4% of all students in 2023 reported living in a homeless situation, as defined by McKinney-Vento legislation (see Box 1).

Not only did the rate go up, but homelessness is still associated with other significant problems in the lives of young people. Teens who completed the YRBS also told us about other important areas in their lives. Unsurprisingly, students who experienced homelessness were also two to three times more likely to report engaging in risky sexual behavior, alcohol use problems, substance use problems, suicidality, and earning poor grades in school. Though, many who experienced homelessness and did not report these problems in their lives.

The YRBS data is a snapshot in time. It does not let us test pathways to, through, and after homelessness, so we cannot say whether homelessness caused these problems, whether these problems contributed to homelessness, or some other, more complicated situation. Also, these findings are based on groups of students. They are essentially averages across many people that represent what is happening across the country. The realities of individual students’ lives are quite complicated and often rather unique. Still, the findings provide important clues—on average—about how practitioners, educators, and policymakers might prevent, prepare for and respond to adolescent homelessness when it occurs. Support and coordination needs to occur across education, health and social service providers to adequately address the range of challenges that often occur among students who experience homelessness.

The article appears in the latest issue of the journal, Pediatrics:

Cutuli, J. J., Garnett, M. L., Noor, Z., Lopez Lopez, L., Ike, C., Willard, J., & Treglia, D. (2025). Adolescent homelessness in the United States: 2023. Pediatrics.