Homeless Children & Youth (ED)
This indicator reports the number of children and youth experiencing homelessness enrolled in the public school system during the 2021-2022 school year. This data source reports the number of students experiencing homelessness, defined as individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. This includes those who are sharing the housing of others, living in motels, hotels, or camping grounds, staying in emergency transitional shelters, or are unsheltered. Data are aggregated to the report-area level based on school-district summaries where three or more children experiencing homelessness are counted.
Source
Source Description
Ed Data Express is a comprehensive platform developed by the U.S. Department of Education to provide easy access to educational data for policymakers, researchers, educators, and the public. The site compiles a wide range of information on student performance, school characteristics, and demographic trends, sourced from key federal data collections like the Common Core of Data (CCD) and the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). Designed to support data-driven decision-making, the platform offers tools for visualizing, analyzing, and comparing data across states, school districts, and subgroups. Ed Data Express aims to promote transparency and equity in education by making critical data readily available to advance the educational outcomes of all students.
Methodology
This indicator reports the number and percentage of homeless children and youth enrolled in the public school system during the latest report year. According to the data source definitions, homelessness is defined as lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence. Those who are homeless may be sharing the housing of other persons, living in motels, hotels, or camping grounds, in emergency transitional shelters, or may be unsheltered.
County-level summaries are calculated by CARES using small-area estimation technique based on the proportion of the population aged 5-17 in each school district/county. The population figures for this calculation are based on data from the 2020 US Decennial Census at the census block geographic level.
Notes:
1) Data is suppressed for school districts when the count of students is less than 3.
2) Data is missing for a number of school districts. The percentage of districts with data, and the percentage of students in districts with data are reported to aid with interpretation.
3) Use caution when comparing data across states due to discrepenacies in reporting. For more information please consult the original data or download the complete FS118 DG655 dataset.
Data Breakouts Available
- Homeless Children and Youth by School Year, 2018-19 through 2021-22
- Students Experiencing Homelessness by Primary Nighttime Residence
This indicator is available at the following subscription levels:
- Premium (currently viewing this indicator and report combination)