How Big of a Problem is Homelessness in Colorado?

Unfortunately, homelessness exists throughout the state of Colorado and is a problem in nearly every city and town across the state.

Read More: Grand Junction’s Warren Barnes + Reminder to be Kind to Homeless |

It can also be confidently said that homelessness is an issue on a National scale as well, but, as with any crisis, it is certainly much more of a problem in certain areas.

New data shows that while Colorado does have a significant issue with homelessness, it could certainly be worse.

How Big of an Issue is Homelessness in Colorado?

Given the fact that Colorado is far colder in the winter than many other states, one might assume that neighboring states with warmer climates experience more homelessness than the Centennial State.

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Unfortunately, recent data suggests otherwise. In fact, studies show that in 2024, Colorado had a homeless rate of 0.31%, or 18,715 individuals experiencing homelessness.

Just south of the border in the vastly warmer New Mexico, the data reported a 0.22% homeless rate with a total of 4,631 individuals experiencing homelessness.

In fact, as we can see below, Colorado's homeless rate was higher than that of any of its neighboring states:

• Utah Homeless Rate in 2024: 0.11%
• Wyoming Homeless Rate in 2024: 0.09%
• Nebraska Homeless Rate in 2024: 0.14%
• Kansas Homeless Rate in 2024: 0.09%
• Oklahoma Homeless Rate in 2024: 0.13%
• New Mexico Homeless rate in 2024: 0.22%

Despite the unfortunate fact that Colorado has more homelessness than any of its bordering states, the Centennial State landed at number nine overall with Oregon, Illinois, Texas, Massachusetts, Florida, Washington, New York, and California claiming the top eight spots in that order.

Check out the full report here.