How many vacant or empty homes are there in America?

There are more than 16 million vacant housing units in the U.S. About 5.8% of rental units are vacant, while 1.4% of homeowner units are vacant.

What percentage of U.S. homes are unoccupied?"

The overall vacancy rate in the United States is 11.6%. This means that 11.6% of all housing units in the U.S. are unoccupied.

What's the ratio of homelessness to vacant homes?

2020 point-in-time data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimates 580,466 people are experiencing homelessness. With 16 million vacant housing units in the U.S., approximately one person is experiencing homelessness for every 27.6 vacant homes. This number has likely increased since 2020 with rising inflation and housing prices.

Sam Huisache

Content Writer

Sam M. Huisache is a Data Writer at Clever Real Estate, the nation's leading real estate education platform for home buyers, sellers, and investors.

Before Clever, Sam worked as a research analyst and writer for several tech startups, non-profit organizations, and pop culture outlets. Sam's work has been featured in publications like Forbes, The Guardian, Computerworld, and USA Today.

Their professional focus has been on studying technological developments and their impact on socioeconomics in the United States. Sam's work at Clever allows them to create engaging content that makes exploring real estate topics accessible to everyone.

Education

BA, Politics — New York University
MPA, Social Enterprise & Non-Profit Management — The George Washington University

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