The United States spends roughly $10 billion per year in targeted federal funding on homelessness, spread across 19 agencies. Once state and local budgets, Medicaid-funded housing services, and private philanthropy are added in, the true annual national spend on homelessness almost certainly exceeds $15 billion, though no single source tracks a combined total.
The $10 Billion Federal Baseline
The clearest number comes from the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, which compiles targeted homelessness funding across the federal government each budget cycle. FY2023 enacted funding came to about $9.7 billion. The FY2024 budget proposed roughly $10.3 billion, a 6% increase.1U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). Targeted Federal Homelessness Funding: How the President’s FY 2024 Budget Compares to Past Budgets The FY2025 proposal held at just over $10 billion.2United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Targeted Federal Homelessness Funding: How the President’s FY 2025 Budget Compares to Past Budgets
Two agencies account for about three-quarters of the total: the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The remaining quarter is split among Health and Human Services, Labor, Education, and more than a dozen smaller programs.
Where the Federal Money Goes
HUD
HUD is the single largest funder. Its Homeless Assistance Grants account received $3.633 billion in FY2023, historically covering both the Continuum of Care program and Emergency Solutions Grants.1U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). Targeted Federal Homelessness Funding: How the President’s FY 2024 Budget Compares to Past Budgets Continuum of Care dollars flow to local planning bodies coordinating housing and supportive services; Emergency Solutions Grants pay for street outreach, emergency shelter, rapid re-housing, and prevention.3eCFR. 24 CFR Part 578 – Continuum of Care Program
Veterans Affairs
The VA is the second-largest funder, with $3.231 billion enacted in FY2024, $3.321 billion in FY2025, and $3.459 billion requested for FY2026.4U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. FY 2026 Budget Highlights That portfolio includes Supportive Services for Veteran Families, which offers case management and temporary help with rent, utilities, moving costs, and child care to very low-income veterans at risk of losing housing or trying to regain it.5VA.gov. Supportive Services for Veteran Families HUD-VASH pairs HUD rental vouchers with VA clinical services; its dedicated FY2025 funding under the continuing resolution was $15 million, largely for administrative fees rather than new vouchers.6Department of Housing and Urban Development. PIH 2026-01 HUD-VASH Veterans are the only population reporting continued declines in homelessness, down 8% between 2023 and 2024.7HUD USER. The 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress Part 1
HHS, Labor, and Education
HHS funds the Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness program, providing outreach, screening, mental health treatment, and substance use services to people with serious mental illness experiencing homelessness.8Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) HHS also funds Health Care for the Homeless through HRSA at roughly $562 million in FY2026, set by statute at 8.7% of total Health Center funding.
The Department of Labor’s Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program announced $23 million in grant funding in January 2026 for employment training and placement.9U.S. Department of Labor. US Department of Labor Announces $23M Funding Opportunity to Provide Support, Preventative Services for Homeless Veterans The Department of Education funds Education for Homeless Children and Youth under the McKinney-Vento Act at about $129 million per year.
Medicaid
A growing stream of federal homelessness-related spending sits outside USICH’s targeted tally. Through Section 1115 Medicaid waivers, states can use Medicaid funds to cover housing navigation, tenancy-sustaining services, home modifications, and, in some states, up to six months of rent and utility payments for high-need populations. At least eight states had approved demonstrations under this framework as of early 2024. Because Medicaid is jointly funded, the federal share flowing through this channel is hard to isolate, but it’s a meaningful complement to traditional programs.
State, Local, and Private Spending
Federal dollars are only part of the picture. State and local governments run their own homelessness programs, fund shelters, and operate housing authorities. No central database tracks that spending nationwide. Some cities spend hundreds of millions annually; others spend little. That variation makes a reliable national aggregate for non-federal public spending unavailable.
Private philanthropy adds another layer. Foundation giving earmarked specifically for homelessness totaled about $9.4 billion between 2020 and 2024, averaging roughly $1.9 billion per year, up from $6.5 billion given between 2015 and 2019.
Adding federal targeted funding of around $10 billion, likely billions more in state and local spending, Medicaid-funded housing services, and philanthropy, the all-in national figure almost certainly exceeds $15 billion per year. Any precise number quoted across all sources is oversimplifying a genuinely fragmented picture.
What the Spending Buys
- Emergency shelter: temporary beds and basic necessities for people with nowhere to sleep.
- Rapid re-housing: short-term rental assistance and case management to move people into permanent housing quickly.
- Permanent supportive housing: long-term rental subsidies paired with services like healthcare and counseling for people with disabilities or chronic homelessness, with no time limit as long as tenants meet lease obligations.10HUD Exchange. CoC Program Components – Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH)
- Transitional housing: time-limited housing with structured services aimed at building self-sufficiency.
- Street outreach: teams engaging unsheltered people and connecting them to shelter, healthcare, or housing.
- Healthcare and behavioral health: mental health treatment, substance use services, and primary care delivered through homelessness programs or mainstream systems.
Permanent supportive housing has anchored federal strategy for over a decade. One widely cited analysis found that a chronically homeless person costs taxpayers about $35,500 per year in emergency services, and placing that person in supportive housing cuts those costs by roughly half, with net savings of several thousand dollars per person annually after accounting for the housing itself.
Spending Set Against the Scale of the Problem
On a single night in January 2024, 771,480 people experienced homelessness in the United States, the highest count on record and an 18% increase over the prior year. Family homelessness rose 39% in a single year. Chronic, unsheltered, and youth homelessness all hit record levels. Veterans were the only group to see a decline.7HUD USER. The 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress Part 1
Per-person public costs run roughly $35,000 to $50,000 annually when emergency room visits, hospitalizations, incarceration, shelter use, and other crisis services are counted. Multiplied across 771,000 people, the direct and indirect burden runs into the tens of billions, well beyond current investment in prevention and housing.
The 2025 and 2026 Restructuring
Federal homelessness policy is going through its biggest overhaul in years, and the composition of that $10 billion is set to change even if the topline holds.
The FY2025 Continuum of Care funding notice capped spending on permanent housing at 30% of a community’s allocation, down from more than half in prior years. Roughly one-third of existing CoC awards expire between January and June 2026, so the effects will show up quickly.
The FY2026 HUD request goes further. It proposes $4.024 billion for homeless assistance, but consolidates the money into an expanded Emergency Solutions Grants program and does not separately fund the Continuum of Care, new permanent supportive housing projects, or the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program.11Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). FY 2026 Congressional Justifications – Community Planning and Development Whether Congress enacts, modifies, or reverses these changes will determine the real spending landscape for 2026 and beyond.
Why There Is No Single Total
The closest thing to a comprehensive federal accounting is USICH’s annual budget analysis across 19 agencies.2United States Interagency Council on Homelessness. Targeted Federal Homelessness Funding: How the President’s FY 2025 Budget Compares to Past Budgets Federal agencies report their own program spending. States and cities track their budgets separately. Private funders report through tax filings and philanthropic databases. Pulling all of that into a single national figure would require coordination that doesn’t currently exist, which is why any headline number for total U.S. spending on homelessness is best treated as an informed approximation.