Identifying Community-Level Heterogeneity in Overall Homelessness and Racial Disparities in Rates of Homelessness: Implications for Policy and Practice

Background and Purpose:

Urban and suburban areas across the U.S. exhibit stark racial disparities in homelessness, with particularly high rates for Black Americans. How do Black-White disparities in homelessness relate to overall homelessness rates and to broader community-level conditions? Different community typologies could suggest varied policy approaches to addressing homelessness, but prior research has not sought to identify between-community heterogeneity in racial disparities and overall rates of homelessness. To address this gap, this study sought to: 1) Identify distinct subgroups of communities with respect to black-white disparities in rates of homelessness and overall rates of homelessness; 2) Assess the relationship between subgroup membership and community-level demographic, housing market and economic indicators as well as measures of structural racism.

Methods

We obtain information on rates of homelessness in a sample of 263 metropolitan communities from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Point-in-Time Count data. To address our first aim, we use k-means cluster analysis to identify distinct subgroups of communities on the basis of the following variables: 1) The disparity in rates of homelessness between persons of Black versus White race; 2) The total rate of homelessness. To address our second aim, we use bivariate tests (Chi-square and ANOVA) to compare community subgroups with respect to housing, economic, and demographic variables obtained from the American Community Survey as well with respect to a multidimensional community-level measure of structural racism.

Results

A four-cluster solution emerged as the best fit, and we described the resulting four community subgroups as follows: 1) low Black-White disparity in homelessness rates; and moderate total rate of homelessness (48% of communities); 2) moderate Black-White disparity in homelessness rates and moderate total rate of homelessness (32% of communities); 3) Very high Black-White disparity in homelessness rates and low total rate of homelessness (11% of communities); 4) Low Black-White disparity in homelessness rates and very high total rates of homelessness (7% of communities). Community racial composition, White poverty rates, percent of Black and White households that rent, White employment, median gross rent, income inequality, rental vacancy rate, the ratio of premature death rates for Black compared to White residents, and, finally, local structural racism, were all significantly associated with the community subgroup membership. Of particular note, communities in subgroups with high Black-White disparities in homelessness rates had higher scores, on average, on the community-level measure of structural racism.

Conclusions and Implications:

Study findings demonstrate that communities vary with respect to the scope and nature of the problem of homelessness within their respective localities. While some communities face particularly high overall rates of homelessness, others exhibit pronounced racial disparities—even when overall rates are lower. Recognizing these distinct patterns of burden and disparity can help local stakeholders develop more tailored and equitable homelessness response, health, and housing strategies that address both the scale and the distribution of homelessness in their communities.