As fundamental as housing is, it is not available to many Minnesotans. Since 1991, when the Wilder Research Center first conducted its count of Minnesotans without permanent shelter, the number of people experiencing homelessness has more than doubled.

Minnesota also has experienced large increases in the number of homeless children since that time. Without stable housing these individuals and families are among the state’s most vulnerable, facing enormous challenges on a daily basis.

The hollow fill for 2006 for people not in formal shelters indicates increased outreach efforts by Wilder researchers over previous years to locate people not in shelters—please use caution when comparing counts of unsheltered people to previous years.

2008 Homelessness - MN

2008 Homelessness - Duluth

2008 Homelessness - Rochester

2008 Homelessness - St. Cloud

2008 Homelessness - Twin Cities Metro

Technical information on these charts can be found here.

Source: MHP tabulation of data from the Wilder Research Center, findings from the surveys of Minnesotans without permanent housing (1991-2006).