STUDY: South Dakota Has Low Homeless, High Unsheltered Rates

South Dakota is among the best states in the nation for the number of homeless citizens per 1,000 population - 1.31 per thousand.

But when it comes to sheltering the homeless population, South Dakota is among the bottom states, with 31 percent of homeless people without a place to stay.

These numbers come from a recent study by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Other Northern Plains states rank even worse than South Dakota in the percentage of homeless people without shelter.

Over two-thirds of North Dakota’s homeless population is without proper shelter—over twice the South Dakota rate—according to HUD. North Dakota’s unsheltered rate—67.4 percent-- is also the worst in the United States, according to the report.
Over 47 percent of Wyoming’s homeless population is unsheltered and Montana is not far behind at nearly 42 percent.

Iowa and Nebraska rate among the best states in the nation with the lowest percentages of unsheltered homeless people—Iowa at just over 4 percent and Nebraska at 5.5 percent. Minnesota is in next the tier down, with just over 11 percent of its homeless citizens unsheltered. Iowa’s rate is also the best in the nation.

Hawaii has the highest number of homeless per 1,000 residents at 4.55 per thousand. Mississippi has the lowest rate at 0.81 per thousand.

Note: Seth Kadish, creator of the data visualization blog Vizual Statistix, generated the above graphic, which shows homelessness on a state by state basis.