Rural Homelessness Growing at Faster Rate Than Cities
New Report Says Rural Homelessness Growing at Faster Rate Than Cities
STATEWIDE — Homelessness may not look the way many imagine it, particularly in rural Indiana.
Rural areas saw a 16.6% increase in people experiencing homelessness between 2023 and 2025, according to Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority data. During that same time period, urban areas saw a 9.4% increase.
Those figures don’t tell the full story – “homelessness in rural areas is more complex and often harder to see,” said Brandi Pirtle, housing director for Jeffersonville-based New Hope Services.
Existing data on homelessness is gathered via point-in-time surveys. These surveys are conducted annually over a one-day period, typically in January or February, and it seldom provides a complete picture.
For example – in IHCDA Region 13, building codes vary across seven counties. Region 13 covers Orange, Washington, Scott, Jefferson, Crawford, Floyd and Clark counties and what’s considered uninhabitable in one county may not be considered such elsewhere, meaning individuals may not show in a PIT count, but they’re in unsafe conditions. Rural homelessness, Pirtle noted, is “frequently undercounted,” because it doesn’t neatly fit Housing and Urban Development categories.
Another reason PIT data doesn’t provide a complete picture is that it only covers one day. Pirtle said many families are “doubled-up” – they share a living space but it isn’t permanent or stable. Those families get missed by PIT counts.
“You don’t find the couch surfers, folks that are hidden in the woods or that pop in and out of a friend’s home,” via PIT counts, Jason Hayes, executive director of the men’s residence center at the Evansville Rescue Mission, said.
Pam Brookshire, vice president of community services at northeastern Indiana-based Brightpoint Services, discussed a situation she knew of — a family inherited a home. They’ve had financial and some criminal issues. They owe $2,500 in electricity bills. They’re also over the Energy Assistance Program income guidelines, “and in this county, there are very few resources – nobody can touch that bill. Nobody has the kind of money just to touch that bill.”
If it isn’t paid, “they are going to be homeless,” she said. To Brookshire, this illustrates the rural homelessness situation.
“Families make decisions,” she said, “we’ve all made decisions we wish we could take back but they’re in a situation now where they’re going to lose their home.”
“This is affordable housing for them,” she emphasized. “If they lose this – they can’t find anything comparable that they will be able to afford. There’s nothing out there. It’s those kinds of situations that more rural families face, and, because of the lack of resources, it’s everybody trying to pull together instead of one or two agencies that could resolve this situation. They’re not as visible because they’re not that wandering the street homeless.”
The COVID-19 pandemic ultimately made housing in rural areas worse. Brookshire said she was hopeful the “perfect storm” of factors would ease after COVID but “none of that has happened.” A two-bedroom apartment in the Fort Wayne area ranges between $1,300 and $1,500 a month. Senior citizens who used to be able to get by in a one-bedroom apartment with social security can’t afford their homes as rent increases.
New developments and increasing property values are also factors – Pirtle said she’s seen situations where property taxes increased and priced people out of homes they’d lived in for years.
“That kind of displacement can happen quickly in small, rural communities,” she said.
Development itself can prove challenging depending on local codes, zoning, land availability, local government, and infrastructure. Funding exists for rural development, but programs like low-income housing tax credits and others are competitive, and there are concerns about federal-level reductions or eliminations.
When contacted with questions regarding information in the 2025 State of Homelessness presentation, the IHCDA provided the following:
“IHCDA believes that a portion of the increase in homelessness in rural counties could be attributed to efforts to ensure a more comprehensive and accurate count. The annual Point-In-Time count does not provide us with the data needed to know exactly why there is an increase in individuals experiencing homelessness in rural areas. Many shelter and housing providers remain at or near capacity and as the number of individuals experiencing homelessness continues to rise, a disproportionate percentage of that increase will more than likely be for unsheltered individuals as a result.”
The IHCDA added that in 2023, the Indiana Balance of State Continuum of Care secured funding for three three-year projects addressing rural homelessness.
The IHCDA is responsible for two initiatives in Jackson and Starke counties. According to the IHCDA “one goal of these projects is to identify and evaluate effective strategies for reducing homelessness in rural communities. By implementing and monitoring target interventions, these programs aim to establish best practices that can be adapted throughout similar rural areas.”
Pirtle said Hoosiers need to use the expertise that already exists within their own communities to strengthen housing stability, “rather than waiting for or relying solely on state or federal intervention.”
She emphasized the importance of a local approach to addressing homelessness — “hope alone is not a plan; however, action, collaboration, and local ownership are,” she said.
