Homelessness and Addiction Statistics in Florida

Homelessness and addiction are critical issues in Florida. Let’s take a look at some recent numbers, regional and demographic variations, and the causes of homelessness and addiction in Florida. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), 2023 is the year when the number of people experiencing homelessness in Florida reached its highest since 2007. 15,482 people were unsheltered, accounting for 6% of the national total.
• Homelessness among individuals with serious mental illness and substance use disorders in Florida rose by 35% from 2022 to 2023, increasing from 6,755 to 9,140 people. 
• As per the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, one in five persons die daily in Florida due to prescription overdose, highlighting a significant public health concern.
• A report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration indicates that 38% of homeless individuals in Florida are alcohol-dependent and 26% misuse other drugs. 

Homelessness in Florida

Homelessness statistics in Florida include:

General Insights

• Despite a 17% increase in the homelessness rate from 2022 to 2023, Florida’s rate has decreased by 30% since 2007. 
• At least 60% of chronically homeless individuals in Florida were unsheltered on a single night in January 2023.
• 420,000 fewer homeless youth were identified in the 2019-2020 school year due to challenges in identifying homeless students during distance learning and school closures.

Regional Distribution

• According to Axios Tampa Bay News, Hendry, Hardy, and Highlands counties near Lake Okeechobee had an 88% unsheltered homelessness rate.
• As per HUD’s 2023 report, 2144 people were experiencing homelessness in St. Petersburg, Clearwater, and Largo in Pinellas County.
• The same report mentions 925 people were experiencing homelessness in largely suburban areas of Florida, including Fort Pierce in St. Lucie County, Indian River, and Martin.
• According to the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), the count of homeless people in Florida by county in 2023 was as follows:

County	Number of homeless people
Alachua	931
Bay	342
Bradford	1
Brevard	1,052
Broward	2,487
Calhoun	29
Charlotte	427
Citrus	199
Clay	16
Collier	703
Columbia	285
Miami-Dade	3,657
DeSoto	57
Duval	1,176
Escambia	1,168
Flagler	61
Franklin	9
Gadsden	29
Gilchrist	0
Glades	18
Gulf	109
Hamilton	40
Hardee	494
Hendry	4
Hernando	183
Highlands	402
Hillsborough	2,040
Holmes	3
Indian River	341
Jackson	32
Jefferson	1
Lafayette	28
Lake	228
Lee	857
Leon	732
Levy	22
Liberty	0
Madison	4
Manatee	739
Marion	454
Martin	246
Monroe	493
Nassau	55
Okaloosa	189
Okeechobee	30
Orange	1,626
Osceola	358
Palm Beach	1,855
Pasco	680
Pinellas	2,144
Polk	607
Putnam	272
St. Johns	435
St. Lucie	338
Santa Rosa	12
Sarasota	411
Seminole	274
Sumter	39
Suwannee	141
Taylor	10
Volusia	992
Wakulla	27
Walton	206
Washington	9

Demographic Distribution 

• Florida saw significant increases in homeless families with children and veterans from 2022 to 2023. 
• According to HUD’s 2023 report, 4668 children (under the age of 18) are living in a place that’s not meant for human habitation or in shelter.
• The same report provides the following breakdown of homeless people in Florida by age:

• 20.4% of the total homeless population of Florida is chronically homeless. 
• 78,277 students experienced homelessness during the 2021-2022 school year, a 23% increase from the previous year (2020-2021).

Causes of Homelessness in Florida

• Miami faced challenges in housing and supporting over 200,000 new arrivals from other countries within the last year.
• HUD’s 2023 report found that 8.2% of homeless people in Florida had fled domestic violence.
• The Shimberg Center for Housing Studies reported that 825,990 low-income Florida households spend over 40% of their income on rent.
• Florida has only 26 affordable and available rental units for every 100 households earning 0-30% of the area median income. This means a deficit of 398,715 units.

Addiction in Florida

Numbers related to addiction in Florida include:

General Insights

• The 2023 Point-in-Time (PIT) count recorded 30,809 homeless individuals in Florida. Out of these, 5,374 had a serious mental illness and 3,766 had a substance use disorder.
• In 2021, more than 24,000 individuals in Florida sought treatment for alcohol addiction.
• In 2020, fentanyl led to the highest number of drug-related deaths in Florida, accounting for 5,302 fatalities. This was followed by cocaine, which caused 2,400 deaths, and ethyl alcohol, which resulted in 1,389 deaths.

• The 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicated that over 1.4 million Floridians aged 12 and older had used marijuana in the past year.
• According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement report, there were 46,000 marijuana-related offenses in the state in 2020. 
• In 2019, Florida experienced over 3,100 opioid overdose deaths.
• The opioid overdose death rate in Florida in 2019 was 14.4 deaths per 100,000 people, which is higher than the national average. 

Regional Distribution

• The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) records the number of adults who receive substance abuse treatment on an in-patient basis. Their 2023 record for all Florida counties is as follows:

County	Adult substance abuse beds (per 100,000 population)
Alachua	18
Baker	0
Bay	0
Bradford	0
Brevard	12
Broward	50
Calhoun	0
Charlotte	0
Citrus	0
Clay	0
Collier	5
Columbia	0
Miami-Dade	15
DeSoto	0
Dixie	0
Duval	40
Escambia	0
Flagler	0
Franklin	0
Gadsden	0
Gilchrist	0
Glades	0
Gulf	0
Hamilton	0
Hardee	0
Hendry	0
Hernando	5
Highlands	0
Hillsborough	0
Holmes	0
Indian River	0
Jackson	0
Jefferson	0
Lafayette	0
Lake	5
Lee	31
Leon	0
Levy	0
Liberty	0
Madison	0
Manatee	15
Marion	10
Martin	0
Monroe	20
Nassau	0
Okaloosa	0
Okeechobee	0
Orange	16
Osceola	14
Palm Beach	5
Pasco	28
Pinellas	22
Polk	12
Putnam	0
St. Johns	0
St. Lucie	15
Santa Rosa	0
Sarasota	0
Seminole	0
Sumter	0
Suwannee	0
Taylor	0
Union	0
Volusia	4
Wakulla	0
Walton	0
Washington	0

• As of 2023, Broward County had 2.5 adult substance abuse beds per 100,000 people, significantly higher than Florida’s statewide rate of 1.5 beds.
• From 2004 to 2023, the rate in Broward County dropped from 5.5 to 2.5 beds per 100,000 people.

Demographic Distribution 

• According to a report prepared by the Florida Legislature, Office of Economic and Demographic Research in October 2019, the yearly marijuana use by age group in Florida is as follows:

	Percentage of people who used marijuana
Year	12 and over	18 – 25	26 and over
2002 – 2003	6.2	17.6	5.2
2003 – 2004	6.2	16.7	4.5
2004 – 2005	6	18.1	4.1
2005 – 2006	6	18	3.8
2006 – 2007	6	17.6	3.5
2007 – 2008	5.9	15.1	4.5
2008 – 2009	6.2	14.5	5.1
2009 – 2010	6.2	16.8	4.6
2010 – 2011	6.4	18.7	4.6
2011 – 2012	6.9	19.1	5.1
2012 – 2013	7.1	19	5.3
2013 – 2014	8	20.5	5.7
2014 – 2015	–	–	–
2015 – 2016	8	19.82	6
2016 – 2017	9	22.39	6.88

• In 2022, 11.0% of high school students reported blacking out after drinking alcohol.
• After alcohol, nicotine is the most prevalent substance used by Florida students. Around 20.2% reported lifetime use and 9.7% reported active use in a span of 30 days.
• Marijuana ranks as the third most commonly used substance among Florida students, with 16.0% reporting lifetime use.

Causes of Addiction in Florida

• The easy availability of drugs is one cause of addiction in Florida. Drug trafficking accounted for over a third (34%) of all reported federal crimes in fiscal year 2022, higher than the national average of 31.5% as per 2022 Federal Sentencing Statistics.
• KFF.org conducted a survey between February 1 and 13, 2023, which highlighted that 32.3% of adults in Florida are experiencing symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder. Mental health disorders may promote substance abuse.

Impact of Homelessness & Addiction in Florida

Homelessness and addiction are closely linked issues that impact many Floridians. The following statistics provide insight into how these problems are affecting the state and its residents:

• Central Florida reported significant increases in housing costs and evictions from 2022 to 2023.
• According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, the average cost of residential drug rehabilitation services per individual in the state of Florida is about $56,640. The average cost of outpatient drug rehabilitation services is about $1,705.
• The same report states that Floridian drug rehab facilities service 57,335 patients annually. 
• There are 847 active drug rehab treatment facilities in Florida. 
• In 2018, Florida witnessed over 134,000 drug-related arrests by police officers. 
• 61% of Floridians worry about their safety daily, ranking the state eighth in safety concerns. Additionally, 75% believe crime is increasing in the state.
• In Florida, the median sales price of homes at the end of 2022 stood at $401,990. By the end of 2023, it rose to $410,000, indicating a 2% increase in real estate prices within that period.

FAQs

What Is Considered Homeless in Florida?

Homeless individuals are those without a stable, consistent, and sufficient place to sleep at night, or those residing in shelters, temporary accommodations, or locations not intended for overnight habitation.

Is It Illegal to Be Homeless in Florida?

It’s not illegal to be homeless in Florida per se. However, ​​individuals experiencing homelessness are forbidden from setting up camps on city streets, sidewalks, and parks. 

How Common Are Drug-Related Crimes in Florida?

According to drug-related crime statistics in Florida, drug crime made up over one-third of all crime in the state in 2023.

Data Sources 

1. https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2023-AHAR-Part-1.pdf 
2. https://www.axios.com/local/tampa-bay/2024/01/08/florida-homeless-population-rate-statistics-california#:~:text=By%20the%20numbers%3A%20In%20the,experiencing%20homelessness%20between%202022%2D2023. 
3. https://www.flhealthcharts.gov/ChartsDashboards/rdPage.aspx?rdReport=NonVitalIndNoGrpCounts.TenYrsRpt&cid=8675 
4. https://www.flhealthcharts.gov/ChartsDashboards/rdPage.aspx?rdReport=NonVitalIndNoGrp.Dataviewer&cid=321 
5. https://drugabusestatistics.org/cost-of-rehab/ 
6. https://www.soberdoc.com/addiction/florida/ 
7. https://www.myflfamilies.com/sites/default/files/2022-12/2022%20Statewide%20FYSAS%20Report%20Per%20Section%20C2-2.3.pdf 
8. https://www.ussc.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/research-and-publications/federal-sentencing-statistics/state-district-circuit/2022/fl22.pdf 
9. https://www.kff.org/statedata/mental-health-and-substance-use-state-fact-sheets/florida/ 
10. https://edr.state.fl.us/content/constitutional-amendments/2020Ballot/MarijuanaRegulationCombinedHandouts_10-4-19.pdf
11.  https://archstonerecovery.com/rehab-blog/the-connection-between-homelessness-and-substance-abuse-in-florida/ 
12.  https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/addiction-statistics-demographics/homeless
13. https://getsafeandsound.com/blog/florida-crime-rates/ 
14. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dave-ramsey-florida-housing-market-120008670.html