Gender
In the United States at least half of homeless people are single males. In large cities the incidence of homelessness among women is higher because of the lack of shelters for women and the prevalence or poor female headed households. In New York City 46% of the shelter population are women and female children. Thirty six percent of the homeless population was comprised of families with children and women head 95% of these households. Women head over 90 per cent of the families in shelters and their median age is 27. They also represent one third of the homeless under 29.

Minorities
Most homeless people in rural areas are white, but in general minorities comprise between 55 and 75% of the homeless population. Latinos and African-Americans account for the majority of this population.

Age
Most of the homeless are between 31 and 50 years old with a mean age of 35 years. The average has decreased over time. There is an increasing number of young families children and women.

Education
About half of homeless people have not completed high school and a substantial percentage are functionally illiterate, unable to deal with job applications or questionnaires.

Income
All homeless people have extremely low incomes, many of them below $6000 a year. Many are completely dependent on soup kitchens or emergency shelters. Americans with annual incomes below $20000 are almost three times as likely to be homeless during their lifetimes than those with incomes above this amount.

Duration of Homelessness
The nature and extent of difficulties encountered by homeless people are related to the length of time that they have been without adequate shelter. As a very general number, about one quarter of urban homeless people have been homeless for less than three months, one half have been without shelter from four months to two years and about one quarter for more than two years.

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