2025 State of Homelessness report is now available

The State of Homelessness 2025 report is now available to the public. The report provides insight into successes, challenges and data such as the homelessness rate per 10,000 people and the number of people housed per month. The report can be viewed here: https://bit.ly/3Pze8TM

Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services (PHHS) works with local organizations every year to provide data to community partners for planning purposes. Throughout the last year, PHHS has utilized these partnerships to determine priorities for addressing homelessness.

"This report helps PHHS better understand the needs of our community and also helps our partner organizations prioritize issues based on the data presented," Human Services Manager Kari Utterback said.

A notable addition to the report is the Cost of Housing comparison detailing the cost to house a person for a day in a one-bedroom apartment, an extended stay motel, the Boone County jail, Room at the Inn and the average cost from the Permanent Supportive Housing Voucher.

"This report shows our coordinated system is working - we utilized every available voucher and housed 152 households in 2025. The cost comparison demonstrates that permanent supportive housing, at $13.76 per day, is our most effective long-term response and our most compassionate approach. These numbers allow us to consider a plan that could be scaled to meet the documented need," said Carter Stephenson, a public health planner.

City of Columbia Vision
Columbia is the best place for everyone to live, work, learn and play.

City of Columbia Mission
To serve the public equitably through democratic, transparent and efficient government.