DeSantis Campaign Press Release - California is a Hotbed for Homelessness Under Newsom

California has by far the most homeless people of any state.

• According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 30% of all individuals experiencing homelessness in the country, or 171,521 people, were in California.
• HUD data also shows that half of all unsheltered homeless individuals in the country are in California.
• California has more than nine times the number of unsheltered homeless people than the state with the next highest number, Washington.

California's homeless crisis is disproportionate to the state's population.

• California has the highest rate of homelessness, with 44 out of every 10,000 people in the state.
• California's rate of homelessness is more than double the national average, which is 18 per 10,000 people.
• Florida's rate of homelessness is 12 per 10,000.
• California's homelessness rate is more than 3 times higher than Florida's.

California Homelessness: Billions Are Spent Every Year, And the Problem Just Gets Worse (Hoover Institution).

• California is home to about 12 percent of the country's population but has about 30 percent of the total homeless population, and about 47 percent of the entire country's unsheltered homeless. As the state has spent more money on homelessness, the problem has grown dramatically in recent years.
• Over the last decade, homelessness increased 43 percent in California, even as it fell 7 percent nationally.
• How much has been spent? Between 2019 and 2021, $12 billion.
• How much worse is homelessness? A nearly seven percent increase between 2019 and 2020.
• Programs that likely have exceeded $100 billion in spending over the last 25 years, have failed.