Financial Aspects & Resource Allocation

This study examines where homeless services are located across U.S. ZIP codes and how these patterns align with community housing needs, poverty, racial diversity, and urbanicity. By linking HUD’s Housing Inventory Count to ACS data, the authors find that services are concentrated in places with the highest housing stress—especially areas with severe rent burden, tight rental markets, and higher SNAP usage. Services also cluster in racially diverse communities and central cities, while rural and many suburban areas remain “service deserts.” Importantly, although diverse communities have more services overall, ZIP codes with high shares of a single racial minority group are less likely to have any services, revealing potential equity gaps. These findings help practitioners understand where service supply does—and does not—align with need, offering guidance for planning, outreach, and advocacy.

• Use housing market stress as a key indicator for service placement. Rent burden is the strongest predictor of where services are located—every 1-point increase relates to a 3–7% increase in beds. Practitioners should track rent burden, vacancy rates, and rising housing costs as early warning signs when planning expansions, siting mobile services, or targeting prevention resources.

• Identify and proactively reach underserved suburban and rural areas. Nearly 60% of ZIP codes without services are rural, and many suburbs experiencing rising poverty have few or no providers. These areas may need mobile outreach, satellite service hubs, or partnerships with local nonprofits that lack homeless-specific programming. Treat these “service deserts” as priority sites for coordinated entry access points or pilot programs.

• Monitor for racial equity gaps—diverse areas may be served, but minority-majority areas may not. While racially diverse ZIP codes tend to have more services, communities with high shares of a single minority group (Black, Hispanic, Asian) are less likely to have any homeless service providers. This indicates potential structural or resource barriers. Practitioners should map service locations against demographic patterns, engage minority-led organizations, and develop equity-driven strategies to ensure coverage in historically underserved neighborhoods.

This article examines the revenue and operations of nonprofit homeless shelters in the United States. The study estimates that these shelters generated about $8.5 billion in revenue in 2015. It also highlights that the sector employs around 160,000 people with an average annual compensation of $24,000. To provide universal bed coverage for all unsheltered individuals, an additional $3.3 to $4.5 billion annually would be required, indicating a significant funding gap​.

• Revenue Estimation: Nonprofit homeless shelters in the U.S. generated approximately $8.5 billion in revenue in 2015. This highlights the financial scale of these organizations in providing temporary housing. 

• Employment Figures: The sector employs around 160,000 people, with an average annual compensation of about $24,000. This reflects the significant human resources involved in shelter operations. 

• Funding Gap: To provide universal bed coverage for all unsheltered individuals, an additional $3.3 to $4.5 billion annually would be needed. This points to a substantial funding shortfall in addressing the full demand for shelter​