Child Homelessness Statistics in 2026: School Counts, Housing, and Attendance

Table of contents

• Child homelessness statistics at a glance
• What the national counts show
• Age and grade patterns in child homelessness
• Housing situations behind the counts
• Demographics within CYEH
• Preschool and early childhood service data
• State absenteeism patterns

Child homelessness statistics at a glance

Child homelessness is not a single number. The NCHE 2026 Data Summary shows a broad and growing school-age population of children and youth experiencing homelessness, with important shifts in living situations, demographics, age bands, and attendance patterns (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

Big number: National CYEH enrollment in public schools climbed from 1,205,311 in SY 2021-22 to 1,548,191 in SY 2023-24, a gain of 342,880 students or 28.4% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

Fast facts:

• CYEH enrollment increased 14.1% from SY 2022-23 to SY 2023-24 (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• The share of CYEH who were unaccompanied homeless youth fell from 9.2% to 8.3% between SY 2021-22 and SY 2023-24 (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• The count of unaccompanied homeless youth still rose from 110,664 to 127,848 over the same period, an increase of 15.5% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• National chronic absenteeism among CYEH fell from 50.8% to 47.7% between SY 2021-22 and SY 2023-24 (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

The data point to a larger population, not a smaller challenge: more children are being identified, more are in the system, and attendance remains a major issue.

What the national counts show

The strongest headline in the dataset is growth. The national count of children and youth experiencing homelessness in public schools increased by more than one-quarter in two school years, and the most recent year alone added another 14.1% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

That matters because the keyword phrase “child homelessness statistics” can hide different realities. Sometimes people mean total enrollment counts. Sometimes they mean living situations. Sometimes they mean whether a child is accompanied by a parent or guardian, or how school attendance is changing. The dataset shows all of those dimensions at once.

National count changes

Measure	SY 2021-22	SY 2022-23	SY 2023-24	Change
National CYEH enrollment in public schools	1,205,311	1,374,537	1,548,191	+342,880, +28.4% from SY 2021-22 to SY 2023-24 (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
CYEH who were unaccompanied homeless youth	110,664	-	127,848	+17,184, +15.5% from SY 2021-22 to SY 2023-24 (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
Share of CYEH who were unaccompanied homeless youth	9.2%	-	8.3%	-0.9 percentage points (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
National chronic absenteeism among CYEH	50.8%	-	47.7%	-3.1 percentage points (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)

The table shows an important pattern. The population grew faster than some of the shares moved. That means a declining percentage does not necessarily mean a smaller problem in absolute terms. Here, the share of unaccompanied youth fell, but the count still increased. The same kind of tension appears in attendance: chronic absenteeism improved, yet nearly half of CYEH were still chronically absent in SY 2023-24 (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

Why the national growth matters

The 28.4% increase from SY 2021-22 to SY 2023-24 is large enough to change how people read the rest of the dataset (NCHE 2026 Data Summary). A few implications stand out:

• More students are being counted across school years, which changes the scale of service needs.
• Growth in the overall population means subgroup changes matter even when percentages look stable.
• A national increase creates more pressure on school identification, support, and attendance systems.

Age and grade patterns in child homelessness

The age and grade breakdown is one of the most useful parts of the statistics because it shows that child homelessness is present at every stage of schooling, from preschool age through twelfth grade (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

The dataset does not show a single concentration point. Instead, it shows broad growth across almost every grade band, with especially notable increases in the early years and in the transition into high school.

Early childhood and elementary grades

Children ages 3 through 5 identified as CYEH grew from 38,879 to 57,176, up 47.1% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary). That is a major jump in a group that is often discussed less than older school-age children.

Elementary-grade counts also rose across the board:

• Kindergarten CYEH increased from 93,439 to 126,433, up 35.3% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• First grade rose from 88,093 to 121,823, up 38.3% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Second grade increased from 91,831 to 123,623, up 34.6% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Third grade increased from 92,394 to 116,934, up 26.6% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Fourth grade increased from 91,563 to 116,349, up 27.1% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Fifth grade increased from 90,425 to 114,369, up 26.5% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

Middle and high school grades

The pattern continues in later grades:

• Sixth grade increased from 88,239 to 111,349, up 26.2% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Seventh grade increased from 86,497 to 108,647, up 25.6% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Eighth grade increased from 87,528 to 108,042, up 23.4% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Ninth grade increased from 100,912 to 128,951, up 27.8% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Tenth grade increased from 82,844 to 109,014, up 31.6% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Eleventh grade increased from 76,969 to 94,471, up 22.7% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Twelfth grade increased from 93,039 to 107,914, up 16.0% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Ungraded CYEH increased from 2,640 to 3,066, up 16.1% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

What the grade data suggests

A few useful patterns emerge from the grade data:

• The largest proportional growth appears in early childhood and the first two grades.
• Ninth and tenth grades also show strong increases, which may reflect the pressure of transition years.
• The data does not point to one isolated school stage; it points to a system-wide issue that spans the full K-12 pipeline.

Housing situations behind the counts

The living-situation data is where the scale of child homelessness becomes especially visible. The largest single living arrangement for CYEH was doubled-up housing, and it grew further between SY 2021-22 and SY 2023-24 (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

Living situation comparison

Living situation	SY 2021-22	SY 2023-24	Change
Doubled-up CYEH	915,578	1,150,630	+235,052, +25.7% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
CYEH in shelters and transitional housing	131,051	196,812	+65,671, +50.2% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
Unsheltered CYEH	51,483	67,536	+16,053, +31.2% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)

That table is the clearest evidence that child homelessness is mostly not visible in the most stereotypical way. The largest count is doubled-up living, not shelters or streets, and it is still growing quickly (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

Unaccompanied youth housing patterns

Among unaccompanied homeless youth, doubled-up living still dominated, with a slight decline in share from 85.2% to 84.5% between SY 2021-22 and SY 2023-24 (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

The other unaccompanied youth living situations also increased in count:

• Shelters and transitional housing: 9,819 to 12,277, up 25.0% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Hotels and motels: 2,035 to 2,887, up 41.9% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Unsheltered: 4,507 to 4,692, up 4.1% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

Why the housing mix matters

The housing pattern is important because it shows how child homelessness can be hidden inside temporary arrangements. A child may not be in a shelter to be counted as experiencing homelessness. The largest category in the dataset is doubled-up living, which helps explain why school identification is so central to these statistics (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

Demographics within CYEH

The demographic breakdown shows that child homelessness is not distributed the same way as the general public-school population. Several groups are overrepresented within CYEH, while others are underrepresented relative to their overall share in public schools (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

Demographic share comparison

Group	Share of all CYEH	Share of all public-school students	Gap
Hispanic or Latino	43.3%	29.7%	+13.6 percentage points (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
Black or African American	24.9%	14.8%	+10.1 percentage points (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
White	21.6%	43.4%	-21.8 percentage points (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
Two or more races	5.4%	5.1%	+0.3 percentage points (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
Asian	2.2%	5.6%	-3.4 percentage points (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
American Indian or Alaskan Native	1.8%	1.0%	+0.8 percentage points (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	0.8%	0.4%	+0.4 percentage points (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)

The largest overrepresentation in the dataset is Hispanic or Latino students, followed by Black or African American students (NCHE 2026 Data Summary). White students, by contrast, make up a much smaller share of CYEH than of the overall public-school population. That does not explain causes by itself, but it does show which groups are carrying a larger share of the measured burden.

English learners and disability status

Two subgroup trends are especially notable because both grew in count while one of them also grew in share.

• English learners among CYEH increased from 235,702 to 406,616, a jump of 72.5% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• The percentage of CYEH who were English learners rose from 19.6% to 26.1% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Children with disabilities among CYEH rose from 235,915 to 301,359, up 27.7% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• The percentage of CYEH with disabilities stayed near one-fifth, moving from 19.6% to 19.5% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Migratory children and youth increased from 15,831 to 22,624, up 42.9% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

These numbers show how child homelessness intersects with other educational needs. A rising number of English learners and children with disabilities among CYEH means support systems need to track multiple forms of need at the same time (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

Preschool and early childhood service data

The preschool-age data highlights another undercounted part of child homelessness statistics. Nationally, children from birth to age 5 not enrolled in kindergarten and served by EHCY subgrants rose from 58,433 to 84,883, a gain of 45.3% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

That is meaningful for two reasons. First, it shows that homelessness-related support is reaching a younger population than school-age counts alone might suggest. Second, the state-by-state changes show that early-childhood service counts can move very quickly.

Selected state preschool counts

State	SY 2021-22	SY 2023-24	Change
California	15,678	22,515	+6,837 (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
Arkansas	406	1,088	+682, +168.0% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
Colorado	772	1,828	+1,056, +136.8% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
Connecticut	93	334	+241, +259.1% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
Maine	22	144	+122, +554.5% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)
Texas	6,517	8,041	+1,524 (NCHE 2026 Data Summary)

The most striking pattern in that table is not just size. It is growth from small bases. A state like Maine can post a very large percentage increase with a relatively small headcount, while larger states like California and Texas contribute the biggest absolute numbers (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

State absenteeism patterns

Attendance is one of the clearest operational signals in the dataset. National chronic absenteeism among CYEH improved from 50.8% to 47.7%, but the level remains high (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

The state data show that chronic absenteeism is uneven and can change quickly:

• California fell from 44.5% to 36.7% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• Florida remained high at 60.0% in SY 2023-24, after 63.5% in SY 2021-22 (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• South Dakota declined from 68.0% to 45.9% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).
• West Virginia moved from 47.5% to 47.3% (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

What the attendance data means

The attendance numbers reinforce a core point: identifying a child as experiencing homelessness is only the first step. Even where chronic absenteeism improves, the rates can still be well above what schools typically want to see. That is especially important when the overall CYEH count is rising at the same time (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).

For readers looking at child homelessness statistics as a single headline number, the more useful approach is to treat the dataset as a layered picture:

• total counts are rising,
• doubled-up housing dominates,
• younger children are increasingly included,
• demographic disparities are visible,
• and attendance remains a serious barrier.

Those layers make the statistics more actionable than a simple one-line summary. They show where the largest groups are, where growth is fastest, and which parts of the student population face the most concentrated instability (NCHE 2026 Data Summary).