Homelessness across the country dropped by 3% last year, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
But in Ohio, the trend is moving in the opposite direction: homelessness here increased by more than 3% in 2025.
The rise is playing out in places like southeast Ohio’s Perry County.
“A lot of people who are surviving on a limited income just do not have enough funds to pay rent and utilities and then survive,” said Clarissa Reynolds, a resource navigator with Hocking Athens Perry Community Action and a member of the Perry Housing Coalition.
An annual count over the winter identified over 50 people experiencing homelessness in the county. That’s more than triple the number a couple years ago.
“Here's what we see a lot,” said Luann Cooperrider, the Common Pleas Perry County Probate Juvenile Judge and another member of the local housing coalition. “The man of the house gets up every day and drives his 2010 Toyota to Columbus or Newark or Zanesville, and that car breaks down. And it's $900 to fix it. And they don't have $900. So you lose your job. That's what we see.”
Other communities around the state are facing similar increases. Franklin County, for example saw a 1.2% increase in homelessness last year, continuing an upward trend. The year before homelessness there jumped by more than 7%.
Hamilton County has also seen a steady increase in homelessness in recent years, with a growing number of people found sleeping on the streets and in their cars.
Why is homelessness rising?
In Perry County, Reynolds says the annual Point-In-Time count, which takes place on a single night over the winter, is imperfect. It’s easy to undercount people experiencing homelessness if you don’t know where to find them.
"We're rural Ohio. We're always the ones that seem to be forgotten until we stand up and make people notice."Luann Cooperrider
“I think there was more homelessness to start with than most people realized,” she said. “So while we do see an increase, I think sometimes it's an increase on the numbers and not exactly on the people.”
Still, she says the high cost of housing is making it harder for people to get by.
“It's just a math problem,” she said. “If you look at some of these people who are bringing in maybe $1,000 a month, and they're trying to find a rental and the rental is $800 a month, it's not feasible for them to pay rent and utilities and buy food and medicine.”
Statewide, Ohio faces a shortage of 266,000 affordable, available rental units, according to the 2026 Gap Report.
“Without more affordable housing and more programs that are income-based, this problem is probably not going to get better,” Reynolds said.
Helping people in Perry County
Unlike nearby counties, Perry County does not have a homeless shelter. Instead, the local housing coalition pays to put people up in the sole hotel in New Lexington: Relax Inn.
“It's $85 a night. That gets them out of the elements, but it really doesn't allow us to do any programming,” Cooperrider said. “All we have, all we can say, is you get two nights a year.”
Because the housing coalition is made up of volunteers, Cooperrider says it’s hard to secure grants or funding for additional services.
“I mean, we're rural Ohio. We're always the ones that seem to be forgotten until we stand up and make people notice,” she said.
For now, the group is counting their small successes. Recently, Reynolds said she helped someone find a dry place to stay.
“He is now living in a campground in a camper, and we are just thrilled that is the case,” she said. “At least when it rains and it's horrible out, he has some place to get in other than just his tent that he was having some issues with black mold.
“It just was a great win for the week.”
