The homelessness count was conducted at the end of January, February and the beginning of March.

These figures were compared to 2020 as a full count was not conducted in many places during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

Indeed, rents across the country have soared by double digits over the past year.

According to the latest data from Realtor.com®, year-over-year growth slowed to just 4.7% in October.

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, there is hardly an area in the country where a full-time minimum wage worker can afford a two-bedroom flat on his or her salary alone.

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, about six out of 10 homeless people in the US sleep on the streets, in camps, in abandoned buildings or in other homeless places.

Since 2020, the homeless population has risen by 3.4%. This may be because many people prefer to avoid the shelter system, which some say is more dangerous than taking their chances on the streets.

In addition, many people in need of housing are victims of natural disasters.

Hurricane Ida, which hit southern Louisiana at the end of April 2021, resulted in more than 4,000 people still living in the shelter system earlier this year.

The Biden administration plans to reduce homelessness by 25% by 2025.

But it will be tough, as pandemic-related stimulus money runs out, rents continue to rise, and homelessness remains a disproportionate problem plaguing people of colour.

Homelessness among families, veterans and youth has declined.

Approximately 28% of those without stable housing are families with children. However, according to the report, this number has dropped by about 10,500 since 2020.

Homelessness among veterans has also fallen by around 11% from 2020 to 2022.

There are over 33,000 homeless veterans this year.

Homelessness among young people (defined as those under the age of 25) has fallen by 12 per cent in the last two years.

However, nearly 30,000 unaccompanied young people have nowhere to go, and this includes some 2,800 children under the age of 18 without a parent or guardian.

People of colour are more likely to be homeless. Around 37% of people without a home of their own are black, even though blacks make up only 12% of the country's total population. Some 24.1% are Hispanic, 3.14% are Native American and 1.6% are Asian.

Meanwhile, white Americans, who make up the majority of the country's population, account for about 50% of the homeless. (Totals do not add up to 100% due to incomplete data reporting).

Mental illness is another factor, coupled with the fact that most people receiving treatment for a disability are unable to find a flat within their budget.

More than half of the homeless are from just four states. California, New York, Florida and Washington.

However, it is worth noting that all of these states, with the exception of Washington, are among the five most populous states in the country. They also have some of the highest real estate prices in the country.

The places with the highest numbers of homeless people are Los Angeles, New York City, Seattle, San Jose, California and Oakland, California.

Not surprisingly, the problem of homelessness is more acute in urban areas. About 54% of the nation's homeless live in one of the nation's 50 largest cities, compared to about 21% in suburban areas and 19% in more rural communities.

Delaware has seen the largest increase in homelessness over the past five years, with a 138.3% increase since 2017.

The state is followed by Vermont at 126.9 percent; Louisiana at 123.1 percent; Maine at 93.5 percent; and Arizona at 51.5 percent.

The largest declines in homelessness since 2017 were in North Dakota, down 44 percent; Maryland, down 26.2 percent; Wyoming, down 25.8 percent; Florida, down 19.4 percent; and Mississippi, down 18.8 percent.