Study: Minnesota sees spike in homelessness since 2015

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A study says Minnesota's homelessness increased by 10 percent between 2015 and 2018, despite employment growing during the same period.

Minnesota Public Radio reports that the St. Paul-based Wilder Foundation released its findings this month from a count of people experiencing homelessness in 2018. Researchers counted 10,233 homeless people in Minnesota on Oct. 25, a jump of nearly 1,000 people since the last study in 2015.

Minnesota's unemployment was at a historic low of 4 percent or less during the same period.

Researchers conducted the count at shelters and transitional housing programs. They also included people camped outside and those seeking services at hot-meal programs and other drop-in locations. 

Researchers say the count likely missed many who weren't staying in a shelter on the day of the tally, particularly young people and those living in rural areas.