Seattle's Homelessness Crisis

For several years, the City of Seattle has struggled to relieve its homelessness problem. This StoryMap analyzes various literature and public data sources to identify the current conditions of the homelessness crisis in Seattle, Washington. Homelessness in Seattle is a systemic problem related to many factors such as health, economic or racial disparities, governmental failures, and lack of affordable housing (City of Seattle, 2017). In the past few years, the City has accelerated its plans and funding to assist in this crisis. The implications of the homelessness problem have affected many Seattle residents and businesses. The root causes, crisis response, and consequences of Seattle’s homelessness crisis will be evaluated in this report to provide insight into the issue and recommendations for further assistance.

Seattle continues to battle a homelessness problem of devastating proportions. Across the nation, Seattle ranks as having the third-largest homeless population (Seattle Times Staff, 2021). In 2020, Seattle had approximately 11,751 homeless individuals. or a 30.2 percent increase since 2010.

In 2020, Washington state had 6,756 people experiencing chronic homelessness, classified as homelessness for over a year or repeatedly (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2021; U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, n.d). At this time, Washington’s chronic homelessness population was the third-largest in the nation (U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, n.d).

While it may be easy to provide homeless people with aid and money, progress on this issue will not happen until Seattle can create initiatives to reduce chronic homelessness.

Mental health and addiction are some of the leading causes of homelessness. In 2020, Washington state had the third-highest rate of mental illness among adults in the nation (Gilbert, 2019). There are only 40 mental health service locations (Esri, 2021b). At the same time, a government survey ranked Washington’s inpatient psychiatric bed capacity nearly last in the country. This gap left nearly a quarter of adults with mental illness without the help they needed (Gilbert, 2019).

A survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau found that among the nation’s 15 largest metro areas, Seattle had the highest rate of adults who reported feeling down, depressed, or hopeless for several days within a week (Balk, 2020).

Since 2014, Seattle has had a booming economy filled with high-wage jobs due to its technology industry. Unfortunately, the economy’s growth has not been shared widely throughout Seattle’s varying population.

Dramatic rises in rental and home costs are directly affected by Seattle’s technology industry (Wagle, 2020). In 2019, only 16.05 percent of employees in Seattle were employed at a professional or technology company (Esri, 2019). This small percentage of Seattleites have reaped the benefits of their booming industry while leaving many others with hardships.

Since the City’s raised economic growth, rental costs have risen by more than 12 percent a year on average (Stringfellow & Wagle, 2018). According to 2019 data, 43.57 percent of rental households in Seattle spent 30 percent or more of their household incomes on rent (Esri, 2019). Residents of the City living in poverty now have to spend over 60 percent of their household incomes on rent (Wagle, 2020). Purchasing a home in Seattle is just as tricky as renting. Out of 132 census tract locations in the City, only 13.63 percent have a median income level matching the median home value, allowing residents to purchase a home without a cost burden (Esri, 2021a).

The map below displays the percentage of Seattle households living below the poverty line by census tracts. In Seattle, 8.93 percent of homes classify as poverty level (Esri, 2019).

When economies are doing well, it changes the dynamics of the construction and housing industry (Stringfellow & Wagle, 2018). Housing developers tend to build more profitable, expensive homes, increasing their supply and decreasing affordable housing options. Since 2011, the proportion of housing deemed affordable to households earning 80 percent or more of the area median income has more than doubled (Stringfellow & Wagle, 2018). On the other hand, affordable housing for households earning 50 percent or less of the area median income has almost halved.

People experiencing homelessness are disproportionately people of color (City of Seattle, 2017). Like much of the country, Seattle faces systemic issues of racial inequity, and there continue to be policies that drive inequity. Racial disparities are displayed through education levels, life expectancy, and access to healthcare, affordable housing, and jobs.

While Seattle is seen as a prosperous, progressive, and diverse population, people and communities of color remain on the margins of the rising economy. When we compare the White residents to residents of color, we see massive income and wealth gaps.

When it comes to educational attainment and the corresponding incomes of the people of Seattle, wealth also plays a role in each individual’s success. For example, the median household income of White households in 2019 was $96,333 (Prosperity Now, 2021). In comparison to nonwhite households, White people held disproportionate incomes . Education was also disproportionate towards White residents (Prosperity Now, 2021). White residents were more likely to earn higher educational attainment than nonwhites.

The figures for homelessness are just as devastating. American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander families are three times as likely to experience homelessness in Seattle than White families (Johnson, 2019). For Black families, the figure is even worse.

The map below shows the percentage of non-white persons living in Seattle by census tracts. In 2019, there were 3.8 times more White residents in Seattle than any other race or ethnicity.

While there are many races and ethnicities in Seattle, White people represent the highest percentage of the population at 62.8 percent (Data USA, 2021). They are followed by Asians at 16.5 percent, then Black or African Americans at 7.3 percent.

Many people commit offenses to survive or have underlying mental health or substance abuse issues. However, these offenders are sent to jail or prison, ruining their futures. In 2018, Seattle Police Department booked approximately 1,000 homeless people into jail, a combined total of 3,211 times (Kroman, 2019).

Misdemeanor charges are often associated with many problems that lead people to homelessness following time spent in the criminal justice system (Kroman, 2019). In 2020, Seattle had approximately 22,684 reports of misdemeanor crimes (Seattle Police Department, 2021). That accounts for about 69 percent of crimes within the city.

Every year, approximately 700,000 individuals return home from state prisons, and another 9 million are released from county jails (McKernan, n.d.). Over 10 percent of those exiting the criminal justice system are homeless in the months preceding their incarceration.

In Seattle, many organizations have come together to repair the devastating homelessness crisis. From governments, businesses, philanthropists, and advocates across the region, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in addressing the problem (City of Seattle, 2017). However, a lack of coordination among governments and stakeholders has limited the effectiveness of such funding.

In 2017, the City of Seattle directly invested $68,098,060 in the homelessness crisis (City of Seattle, 2017). Such spending included money for rental assistance programs that prevent people from falling into homelessness, providing transitionary shelter, building low-income housing, and other various assistance methods.

Seattle’s Mayor, Jenny Durkan, launched a Seattle Rental Housing Assistance Pilot Program that focuses on preventing households from falling into homelessness while waiting for longer-term assistance (City of Seattle, 2017). In April 2018, the city began assisting 1,000 low-income households to provide critical resources such as rental assistance or utility discounts.

Seattle’s government has implemented Diversion services to help those experiencing homelessness with one-time financial assistance or services to bypass shelters and move directly to housing (City of Seattle, 2017). Seattle’s Rapid Rehousing program is similar to its diversion services. Instead, it focuses on helping individuals exit the homeless services system and move to permanent housing (City of Seattle, 2017).

In 2017, Mayor Durkan announced over $100 million in City funds that will be used to build and preserve 1,450 affordable homes across Seattle (Seattle Office of Housing, 2018). This investment will be utilized for various housing types for low-income residents, such as permanent supportive housing for those experiencing homelessness, apartments for low-income households, transit-oriented development, and homes for first-time homebuyers (Figures 13 & 14).

The City of Seattle makes considerable investments to clean up trash resulting from the homelessness crisis. The garbage from homeless encampments in the city can include needles, feces, and biohazardous waste (Rufo, 2019). This effort helps to reduce potential negative impacts on public health and safety. From 2017 to 2018, municipal cleanup crews disposed of 8.6 million pounds of trash from homeless encampments (Rufo, 2019). 

The City of Seattle works to assist its homeless population with basic needs such as a place to rest, restrooms, showers, and laundry facilities by creating day and hygiene centers located throughout the city (City of Seattle, 2017).

In 2017, Seattle created a Navigation Team to connect homeless individuals with aid and shelter (City of Seattle, 2017). The Navigation Team is staffed with outreach workers and the Seattle Police Department members who have advanced certification in crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques. This team’s primary goal is to help homeless individuals find shelter and assist in hazardous situations.

To reduce the number of homeless people on the streets, Seattle needs to address the current policies for policing, including how petty crimes related to homelessness, mental illness, or poverty are charged. They also need to quickly put in place policies to protect people of color from discrimination and provide assistance to balance out racial inequities in healthcare, the criminal justice system, and the economy.

While the city is working diligently to provide more accessible and affordable housing or shelter for the homeless or low-income households, more needs to be done if Seattle wishes to outpace its homeless growth per year. Seattle should offer incentives to landlords to provide affordable rates and tax the companies that have created the housing crisis in Seattle. Such taxes should be filtered through their response to end homelessness and the housing crisis.

Seattle has made enormous strides to resolve the homelessness crisis. However, there is still much more work to be done. As we advance, the Seattle government should act as a leader for all organizations, advocates, and volunteers wishing to end the crisis and create a centralized plan to do so.