The Average Homeless Person Earns Between $10,000 and $15,000 a Year at Work

Employment Is Not a Cure for Homelessness, and the Data Explains Exactly Why

If you Google how much money a homeless person makes at their job, you will instantly be bombarded with AI responses about panhandling profits, beggar experiments, and other forms of income-earning strategies that rely almost entirely on asking working people for money. But this is a disingenuous response because the answer hinges on the assumption that most homeless people are standing in traffic somewhere, begging for change. This myth has fueled a highly consequential misunderstanding that causes the general public to falsely believe the answer to homelessness is to “get a job”.

The reality is that the majority of homeless people (approximately 40%-60%) are already working. Many of them are working more than one job. Furthermore, statistical data from individual shelters indicate that, in many cities, the number of homeless shelter residents connected to the labor force through either full- or part-time employment can be as high as 90%, depending on the city.

For many people in this situation, homelessness isn’t creating an eye-catching sign and standing at an intersection in the middle of a heatwave to ask strangers for change. This prospect carries its own burdens and obstacles.

Rather, homelessness looks a lot more like trying to iron a work uniform after waking up in a rundown RV, or buying a gym membership so you can shower before that 16-hour shift at a customer service desk that’s difficult to get to because you have no transportation. Homelessness can happen even in higher-income situations because it’s not just about employment, but also, and more importantly, it is about financial education and credit access.

As certified financial social worker Wendy Molyneux explained in a brief exchange with Invisible People, “The myth that unhoused people are all unemployed goes beyond ignorance and places the problem within the individual rather than the system. This myth ignores that many unhoused people are fully employed, and even those who aren’t may be doing the best they can to find work.”

Molyneux is the author of “Financial Trauma, Why Money Isn’t Just About Money.” Her work examines the deeper human and cultural patterns that fuel poverty, drawing from her unique background in social work and personal finance.

“The ‘just get a job’ story serves the system by shifting public attention away from structural failures such as the high cost of living, wages that don’t keep up with it, and the growing disparity in income between the haves and have-nots,” Molyneux said.

Most Homeless People Earn Between $10,000 and $15,000 a Year at Their Job

A 2024 study published by the Becker Friedman Institute for Economics at the University of Chicago reviewed more than a decade of wage data collected by the US Census Bureau, the American Community Survey, and the Homeless Management Information System. It revealed a rough annual salary range of $10,000 to $15,000 nationwide. It’s important to consider that the cost of living varies drastically from city to city, as does earning potential.

For a broader look at homelessness and poverty, Invisible People reporters sat down with Beth Bengtson, the CEO of Working for Women. This acclaimed nonprofit helps women who are economically marginalized across the United States achieve financial independence.

Bengtson said if you want to know the average homeless person’s salary, it’s important to look at the hourly rate. Jobs that pay between $11 and $20 per hour put people the most at risk of homelessness through underemployment, and reasons for this are not entirely monetary.

Employed People Become Homeless Due to Structural Issues, Lack of Financial Education, and Lack of Access to Available Credit

“When I started Working 4 Women, I thought we just had to get women in better jobs,” Bengtson explained. “And what we quickly have seen, over the course of our time in this company, is that it’s not enough to get someone into a better job.”

“Financial management skills are lacking in this country,” she continued. “If you happen to come from a family that has good financial management skills, there’s a high probability you will have gained some of that insight. However, many people don’t grow up with a financial understanding, and so even with a paycheck, they are essentially learning by fire.”

Indeed, financial literacy is not a primary focus in the US public school system. It is currently not a national curriculum requirement. Schools that do provide this type of education almost always offer it as a one-off course rather than an ongoing subject that changes with the fluctuations of today’s uncertain economy.

Notably, most adults who attended public school before 2010 did not even have a personal finance course requirement. As such, they headed into the workforce and the ever-declining housing market, blind to the simple concepts that make consumerism tick. Basic credit concepts and misconceptions about affordability muddy the waters of remaining financially afloat.

This “learning by fire” puts them in a position where they are always one bad financial decision away from losing everything. And how does the government respond to this widespread lack of financial preparedness? Why, by making poverty a multi-billion dollar business.

Depending on Location and Family Size, Even a Six-Figure Income Might Not be Enough to Escape Homelessness

The lowest-earning members of the workforce are the most at-risk of becoming homeless through poverty, but there has been a recent shift in the housing market that makes things a bit more complex.

Under the current economic circumstances, the national average US household income needed to comfortably afford a three-bedroom house without being cost-burdened (spending more than 30% of one’s salary on housing) falls between $105,000 and $125,000 per year. In high-cost cities like New York and LA, the average exceeds $200,000.

To put things into perspective, a couple with four children needs a house with at least three bedrooms to meet HUD’s standard of living without being considered doubled-up. Meanwhile, many landlords are doubling down by restricting the number of residents to two people per bedroom or less. This raises the cost of living astronomically for working-class families with four or more children. As such, you no longer need even to be underemployed to become homeless.

Homelessness Can Happen to You, Even If You’re Gainfully Employed

Homelessness can happen to anyone, much like it happened to US Army veteran Onur Oncer.

We often think of veteran homelessness as something that takes place upon departure from service, but that’s a theory worth reconsidering given the declining pay rates our military offers. Imagine being a homeless veteran while you are serving as an E-4 Corporal in the military. That is what appears to have happened in Onur’s case.

Oncer shared his insightful truth with Invisible People during a casual conversation, stating, “I ended up homeless, living out of my car while in the US Army in 2012. I was taking care of my mom and received Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH). So, the army paid me for having a dependent,  but they also told me I couldn’t live in the barracks if I had a dependent.”

“I was helping pay the bills in another state and couldn’t live in the barracks, which would either force me to rent a home or live in on-post housing (where they take that BAH away for rent), so both defeated the purpose,” he continued. “If they found out I lived in the barracks, they would make me pay for it, so I lived out of my car instead.”

At the time, Oncer revealed he was making about $2,000 a month, which coincides with the salary mentioned in the Becker Friedman report.

Other Countries Do Offer Housing as Part of Their Employment Packages

In a previous post, we discussed the “should-be economy,” where we tend to view our economic positions based on how things should be rather than how they actually are. Could it be that we are doing this when we tie employment to stable housing?

Having a steady job doesn’t automatically equate to stable housing, but perhaps we all subliminally think it should, and for good reason. In all of the countries listed below, employment often or always features a housing package. Why can’t the United States, which holds one of the highest wealth indexes in world history, do the same?

Japan

South Korea

China

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

Norway

UAE

Qatar

Kuwait

Bahrain

Oman

Iceland

Switzerland

Australia

New Zealand

Homeless veterans are becoming homeless while they’re still in the army, women working multiple jobs are living in cars with their children, teachers who can’t get ahead outside of the classroom, and homeless service workers are facing homelessness themselves.

These are the people you should be imagining when you visualize homelessness in America. These are the salaries we should be associating with unstable housing nationwide.

The crisis is far from confined to the sidewalks of our busy city streets. It has made its way into offices, homerooms, and military boots. It has crept through the cracks in social safety nets and grown to epic proportions. The system is in desperate need of a revamp. Tell your legislators.

Talk to Your Representatives About Affordable Housing, Available Services, and Creating a System that Serves the American People

Right now, all we have is a system that undercuts the American dream. It’s time to make a change in the right direction. Urge your local legislators to take on the task or move over.