Mortality of the US Homeless Population

It is well established that those with lower incomes tend to have worse health outcomes. But whether this relationship extends to the most disadvantaged in society – people experiencing homelessness – has rarely been examined. This column explores the relationship between homelessness and health outcomes in the US. It finds that after accounting for demographic and geographic differences, the mortality risk of people who have experienced homelessness is about 3.5 times higher than that of the housed population. The mortality risk differs within sub-groups of the homeless population and the elevated risk persists long after people have left literal homelessness.