NYC Homelessness System Dashboard
86,484 people in DHS shelter · 4,504 unsheltered
DHS Daily Report: Feb 2, 2026 · HOPE Survey: Jan 28, 2025 · New York City
👥Who Is in DHS Shelter Tonight?
DHS Daily Report · February 2, 2026
86,484Total in DHS Shelter
Families with Children
56,339
65.1%
Children (under 18)
30,305
35.0%
Adults in family households
26,034
30.1%
Families (household units)
17,492
20.2%
Adult Families (no children)
4,879
5.6%
⚠️30,305 children — more than one in three people in DHS shelter is a child. That's more children than the entire population of Hoboken, NJ sleeping in NYC shelters tonight.
📋Note on total homelessness: DHS shelter (86,484) + HOPE unsheltered estimate (4,504) = ~90,988. But this undercounts significantly: ~200,000+ people are doubled up, and the HOPE count is widely considered a floor estimate. The Coalition for the Homeless estimated 350,000+ people without stable homes in NYC as of December 2024.
📊Asylum Seekers vs. Long-Term New Yorkers
Two crises overlapping in one system
DHS shelter population (estimated breakdown) · ~86,484
~57,000 (66%)
~29,000 (34%)
Non-Asylum Seekers: ~57,000 📈The non-asylum seeker population has grown 26% since April 2022 (45,189 → ~57,000). Asylum seekers peaked at ~70,000 in Jan 2024 and declined to ~33,300 by Sep 2025 — a 51% drop. But "home-grown" homelessness keeps rising structurally, with +7,500 in 2024 alone.
🧑🤝🧑Race & Ethnicity
Who the system serves — and fails
Families with children in shelter
91% of families with children in shelter are Black or Hispanic. Any budget decision about homelessness is a racial equity decision.
⚖️The Core Mismatch: Show Your Work
Prevention costs pennies on the shelter dollar
DHS Shelter Operations
HomeBase Prevention
Shelter operations alone (excl. admin)
~1.3% of DHS budget (funded via HRA)
How the cost comparison works
$98,700
Average cost per family in shelter for 1 year
How calculated: DHS FY24 MMR: average family bed-night cost = $270.51 (up 16.4% from $232.40 in FY23). Average family stay = 376 days (first 4 months FY25). $270.51 × 365 = $101,736/yr. Rounded to ~$98,700 using blended rates.
Source: NYC Mayor's Management Report FY24, Council Budget Note FY26.
Caveat: System average. Non-emergency shelters: ~$186–$232/night. Emergency hotels: $332/night all-in (HANYC). Family shelter budget: $1.29B in FY25.
~$1,970
Average HomeBase cost per household served
How calculated: ~30,000 households served annually on $59M budget = ~$1,967/household. Gold-standard: Abt Associates RCT (2010-2012, published 2016).
Source: Abt Associates RCT (2016), ICPH "HomeBase at 20 Years" (2025).
Caveat: Serves families already identified as at-risk. ~4% still enter shelter. Includes case management, financial assistance, legal services, benefits access. 61% federally funded (at risk).
What the peer-reviewed science says
The Abt Associates RCT found HomeBase decreased shelter entries by 5-11% and every $1 saves $1.06 in direct shelter costs. FY24 MMR: 96% of families served avoided shelter within 1 year. The headline "50x" ratio compares full shelter-year vs. one prevention engagement — real but assumes full average stay. Conservative peer-reviewed figure: $1.06 saved per $1 spent in direct shelter costs only.
Why this still matters enormously
The $1.06 figure only counts direct DHS shelter savings. Excludes: reduced ER visits, child welfare, criminal justice, lost productivity. NY/NY III: housing reduces costs by $16,282/person/year across 7 systems. Fowler et al. (2019): a 5% improvement in prevention = same reduction as 50% improvement in housing-first — making prevention the single highest-leverage intervention.
Sources: DHS Daily Report (Feb 2, 2026) · HOPE Survey (Jan 28, 2025) · NYC Council DHS Budget Notes (FY25 + FY26)
NYC Comptroller Asylum Seeker Census · Coalition for the Homeless State of the Homeless 2025
NYCHA Fact Sheet 2025 · HPD Production Data · MMR FY24 · ICPH HomeBase at 20 Years · Family Homelessness 2024
Abt Associates RCT (2016) · SHNNY · CSH Cost Studies · NY/NY III Evaluation · DOI Report (Oct 2024)
Fowler et al. (2019) · CBCNY CityFHEPS Report · Stout RTC Analysis
■ 4 data gaps require FOIL or new collection · Not an official government product