Chicago Homelessness Rises as Advocates Push for Policy Change

Coalition report highlights discrepancies in official counts and calls for local solutions to address racial disparities.

Jan. 30, 2026 at 1:55am

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A new report from the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness reveals that the city's homeless population exceeded 58,000 in 2024, far outpacing the official point-in-time count. Coalition policy manager M Nelson argues the city needs to develop its own definitions and flexible policies to address homelessness, rather than relying solely on federal guidelines. The report also highlights the disproportionate impact on Black and minority residents, as well as the criminalization of homelessness, and the high number of vacant housing units in the city.

Why it matters

Accurately measuring the scale of homelessness is crucial for crafting effective policies and allocating resources. The Coalition's findings suggest the official count significantly undercounts the problem, especially among vulnerable populations. Addressing homelessness requires a comprehensive, community-driven approach that considers racial disparities and avoids criminalizing those in need.

The details

The Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness' annual report estimates the city's homeless population exceeded 58,000 in 2024, three times higher than the official point-in-time count. Coalition policy manager M Nelson argues the discrepancy is due to the narrow definition used in the official count, which only includes those sleeping outside or in shelters, while the Coalition also counts couch surfers and those doubling up. Nelson says this undercounting prevents policymakers from fully grasping the scale of the problem and allocating resources accordingly. The report also highlights the disproportionate impact on Black and minority residents, who make up over half of the homeless population despite comprising just one-third of Chicago's overall population. Nelson cites issues like gentrification, lack of access to education, and the criminalization of homelessness as contributing factors.

  • The Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness released its annual report in 2026.
  • The report estimated the city's homeless population exceeded 58,000 in 2024.

The players

M Nelson

Policy manager at the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness, who advocates for the city to develop its own flexible policies to address homelessness rather than relying solely on federal guidelines.

Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness

A local organization that authored a report highlighting the discrepancy between official homeless counts and their own estimates, as well as the disproportionate impact on minority communities.

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What they’re saying

“One of our pieces of advocacy that we've worked on with partners over the last several years is to work to create a Chicago policy and a Chicago system that would create a Chicago-based resource to work on initiatives that could prevent and end homelessness.”

— M Nelson, Policy manager, Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness (The Center Square)

“Anytime we're trying to address any type of problem, we need to know what the problem is we're actually dealing with. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is the primary funder for homelessness services federally, really only considers people who are staying in shelter or outside in their resource allocations.”

— M Nelson, Policy manager, Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness (The Center Square)

“One of the things that we see is that homelessness is very clearly an issue of racism. We still are seeing increasing rates of homelessness amongst people who identify as black and African American and we can see how that overlaps with socioeconomic status, gentrification, how people are being pushed out of the city and lack of access to education.”

— M Nelson, Policy manager, Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness (The Center Square)

“When we criminalize people that are experiencing homelessness, we're ignoring the problem, we're disappearing people rather than disappearing the problem. It's absolutely crucial that we continue to fight bans on sleeping outside and other ways that people that are experiencing homelessness are criminalized.”

— M Nelson, Policy manager, Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness (The Center Square)

What’s next

The Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness plans to continue advocating for the city to develop its own flexible policies and definitions to address homelessness, rather than relying solely on federal guidelines.

The takeaway

This report highlights the need for a more comprehensive, community-driven approach to addressing homelessness in Chicago, one that accurately measures the scale of the problem, considers racial disparities, and avoids criminalizing those in need. Developing local solutions could allow the city to better tailor its response to the unique needs of its homeless population.