News Update

San Jose has the highest rate of homeless youth in the U.S., according to study

San Jose has the highest number of homeless young people ages 18 to 24 per capita, according to a study from United Way of National Capital Area. The national study included data from 100 major cities across the United States and found that 85 young adults out of every 100,000 residents are homeless in San Jose.

“This has been a crisis for years,” Scott Myers-Lipton, a San Jose State University sociology professor, told San José Spotlight, who reported on this study. “At SJSU, it’s like pulling teeth to get them to implement the agreement to provide emergency beds.”

The crisis has increased in recent years, with students at San Jose University rallying in recent years for school administration to provide support such as emergency funds and beds. And a 2021 survey by the school’s basic needs program showed that 624 out of 5,680 respondents, or 11.2%, had been homeless for at least one day during that school year.

The city has partnered with a local organization to build new apartments for young people, but the projects will not be finished until at least 2024, according to the San Jose Spotlight.