Indy point-in-time homeless count rises for first time since 2021

Indianapolis experienced a slight increase in homelessness from 2023 to 2024, according to this year’s point-in-time tally.

The 2024 count was conducted by the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention in partnership with the Indianapolis Continuum of Care.

The annual count is required for communities to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which helps fund local homelessness prevention efforts.

Volunteers at the annual point-in-time count found 1,701 individuals experiencing homelessness in Indianapolis on Jan. 24 this year—a 5% increase over the count in 2023.

It’s the first increase since 2021 when the pandemic fueled a jump from 1,588 to 1,928 individuals. 

A disproportionate number of homeless individuals—53% of the counted population—were Black, compared with the overall Indianapolis population, in which 30% of residents are Black. The count also found an 8% increase in homeless women and girls.

While most of those counted that night (66%) were in emergency shelters and another 11% were in transitional housing, the report says there is cause for concern in the number of those sleeping outdoors. That number, 339, is a slight decrease from 2023 but is 72% higher than when the same count occurred in 2022 and triple the number in 2019.

Because the count is intended to reflect one night in January, there are limits to the data.

These counts don’t include those staying with others temporarily, often called couch-surfing, or instances where multiple households share a singular living space. It also excludes people in institutional settings, such as hospitals and jails.

Nearly 60 volunteers, Professional Blended Street Outreach members and the IMPD Homeless Unit conducted surveys for the count through electronic surveys. The next four days, volunteers at service provider locations, such as food pantries and libraries, surveyed individuals regarding where they slept Jan. 24.