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DID YOU KNOW?

On a single night in January 2025, 3,386 Vermonters had no place to call home --- including 633 children and 215 seniors. That's a 200% increase since 2020.

Source: 2025 State of Homelessness in Vermont Report

Vermont has the 4th highest rate of homelessness in the nation --- 53 unhoused residents per 10,000 people. In 2022 and 2023, Vermont ranked 2nd worst in the country.

Source: VTDigger / HUD 2024 Annual Homeless Assessment Report

Vermont has spent over $800 million on homelessness in the last decade --- yet the number of unhoused Vermonters has tripled. That's what happens when you fund emergency responses but not permanent affordable housing.

Source: Vermont Auditor of Accounts, 2025

Vermont's shelter system has capacity for only 680 household placements statewide --- what the state's own January 2026 report calls a small fraction of need against 3,386+ homeless individuals. That figure counts household units, not individuals: a single placement may serve one person or an entire family.

Source: Vermont DCF Act 27 Monthly Housing Report, January 2026

MYTH

Homeless people are lazy --- they just need to get a job.

FACT

About 25% of unhoused Americans are employed --- many working multiple jobs. Even a full-time minimum wage worker in Vermont cannot afford a one-bedroom apartment without spending more than 60% of their income on rent. Housing is unaffordable, not people unwilling to work.

Source: National Alliance to End Homelessness; NLIHC Out of Reach

MYTH

Homelessness is caused by substance abuse or mental illness.

FACT

Only 25--30% of unhoused individuals have a severe mental health disorder. Research shows substance abuse is more often a result of homelessness than a cause --- people cope with trauma, exposure, and hopelessness. The #1 driver of homelessness is a shortage of housing low-income people can actually afford.

ACLU-WA; National Coalition for the Homeless

MYTH

Vermont's homeless mostly came here from other states for services.

FACT

Research consistently shows the vast majority of unhoused people became homeless in the community where they were already living. Vermont's crisis is homegrown --- driven by stagnant wages, skyrocketing rents, and years of underinvestment in housing low-income Vermonters can actually afford.

Source: National Alliance to End Homelessness; Vermont Housing Needs Assessment

MYTH

Homelessness only affects people in cities.

FACT

Vermont's homelessness crisis touches every county. The 2025 Point-in-Time Count includes unhoused people in rural areas, small towns, and every corner of the state. Vermont has the 4th highest per-capita homelessness rate in the nation --- this is a statewide crisis.

Source: 2025 State of Homelessness in Vermont Report; VTDigger