Living in Your Vehicle · The Bigger Picture
How many people live in their cars, and why?
What the federal count shows, why the numbers are so hard to pin down, who lives in vehicles, and what cities are doing about it. Every figure here comes from a government agency, a court, or published research.
Start with the countBy Dan Whelan, founder of New World Survival
Researched from government agencies, university extension services, and other published sources. See our sources
What this page covers
What do we actually know about vehicle living?
Less than you might expect. Headlines put the number of Americans living in cars anywhere from tens of thousands to more than a million. The honest answer is that no one has a reliable national count, and the federal government says so.
What does exist is a federal one-night count of homelessness, local counts from cities that track vehicles, and a handful of good studies. This page walks through each, explains why they disagree, and lays out the debate over causes as fairly as we can. For the practical side of car living, the guides in this section start with staying warm.
The national count
How many people live in their cars?
The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, the federal agency that coordinates homelessness policy, told Congress in 2022 that the U.S. lacks national data on the share of the unsheltered population that lives in vehicles.[1] Here is what the federal count does show.
745,652
People the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) counted as homeless on a single night in January 2025.[2]
266,320
Of those, people living unsheltered. HUD's definition includes anyone whose main nighttime place is somewhere like a car, a park, or a bus station.[2]
Not broken out
HUD generally counts people sleeping in cars as unsheltered, but does not treat everyone in an RV as homeless, since RVs are ordinarily used as sleeping quarters.[1] The national report does not say how many live in vehicles.
What about the million-plus estimates?
You will see figures of one million or more shared online, usually from advocates or media reports. We looked for a published method behind them and could not find one, so we do not use them here. They may also mix two groups: people living in vehicles because they cannot afford housing, and people who travel in vans by choice.
Counting
Why are the numbers so hard to pin down?
People in cars are among the hardest to count, for a few plain reasons.
One night, once a year
The federal Point-in-Time count is a snapshot of a single night in January.[2] Someone who slept in a car for three months last summer does not show up in it.
Communities count differently
USICH notes that local counting areas do not use consistent tools to count people living in vehicles.[1] Los Angeles counts cars, vans, and RVs that appear to be lived in, then uses survey data to estimate how many people are inside.[3] King County, Washington, uses a survey-based sampling method approved by HUD instead of a volunteer street count.[4]
A quiet car is easy to miss
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) concluded that the federal data likely underestimate the size of the homeless population, because identifying people experiencing homelessness is inherently difficult.[5] Darlene, who reviews this section, makes a point of not being noticed: "You gotta not look homeless."
Local counts
What do cities that track vehicles actually find?
The clearest numbers come from West Coast regions that count vehicles separately.
13,549
Cars, vans, and RVs counted as lived-in during the 2024 Greater Los Angeles count: 3,709 cars, 2,986 vans, and 6,854 RVs. That counts vehicles, not people.[3]
Almost half
USICH reported that as of 2020, people living in vehicles made up almost half of the City of Los Angeles's unsheltered population.[1]
27%
Share of King County, Washington's unsheltered population living in vehicles in its 2024 count, out of an estimated 9,810 people living unsheltered.[6]
These are high-cost West Coast regions that count vehicles carefully. Their shares should not be applied to the whole country.
Who
Who lives in their cars?
A wider range of people than the stereotype suggests.
More women and families
A UCLA study of Los Angeles survey data found that, compared with people in tents, makeshift shelters, and public spaces, people living in vehicles are more likely to be women, more likely to live in larger households with children, and less likely to be chronically unhoused.[7]
Many reasons, many lives
USICH describes single adults who cannot afford rent, families with children, people facing job loss or eviction, and seniors who cannot afford rental housing. Some choose a vehicle over a shelter because of curfews, sobriety rules, or rules that keep out pets, partners, or older children.[1]
Often newly homeless, for money reasons
In the 2024 Los Angeles count, 54% of people newly homeless and living unsheltered named economic hardship as a reason, in a survey where people could give more than one reason.[3] Research on work and homelessness is covered on what people get wrong.
The debate
What causes homelessness, and what fixes it?
This is one of the most argued-over questions in American policy, and reasonable people land in different places. In the Supreme Court's words: "Homelessness is complex. Its causes are many."[8]
Housing costs
GAO's statistical analysis found that rental prices were associated with homelessness: in the areas it examined, a $100 increase in median monthly rent went with about a 9% increase. Local providers GAO interviewed also named factors such as job loss.[5]
The Housing First argument
Housing First means placing people in permanent housing first, then offering services. HUD's 2025 report release said homelessness increased during a decade of "Housing First" policies, and the HUD Secretary said the approach "has failed to meaningfully reduce homelessness."[9]
The case for housing programs
The National Alliance to End Homelessness read the same 2025 data the other way. Its CEO said housing-focused programs "can and do work" when adequately funded, and credited targeted housing resources, such as emergency housing vouchers, for the drop from 2024.[10]
Where we stand
New World Survival does not take a side in the policy fight. Our job is practical: helping the person in the car stay warm, fed, clean, and safe, and helping everyone else understand them. We will update this page as new data comes out.
Laws and responses
What are cities doing about it?
Most use a mix of enforcement and help, according to USICH.[1]
More rules on living in vehicles
Citing a 2019 National Homelessness Law Center survey, USICH reported that half of 187 cities surveyed had at least one law restricting living in vehicles, and that such laws increased by 213% between 2006 and 2019.[1]
The 2024 Supreme Court decision
In City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, the Court ruled 6 to 3 that enforcing generally applicable laws regulating camping on public property is not cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. The Oregon city's ordinances also barred overnight parking in its parks. In dissent, Justice Sotomayor argued that punishing people for sleeping outside when they have nowhere else to go is unconstitutional.[8] Local rules on where you can sleep in a vehicle vary, and they can change.
Safe parking programs
USICH describes safe parking as a safe, fixed place to park overnight in locally sanctioned spaces, usually with sanitation, food, Wi-Fi, and connections to housing.[1] The UCLA researchers add that well-designed programs can support a move into permanent housing.[7] Our parking guide explains how to find one.
Do restrictions work?
Los Angeles research summarized by USICH found that restrictions on living in vehicles can reduce the number of people in cars in the areas where they are enforced, but do not meaningfully change the overall number of people experiencing homelessness in a community.[1]
What it means for you
What can one person do with all this?
The numbers are big and uncertain. The next step for any one reader is small and clear.
If you live in a car
Start with staying warm and safe tonight, then work through the rest of the guides.
Sleeping warm →
If you need help
Mail, food benefits, health care, and phone service, none of which require a home address.
Finding help →
If you want to help
What people get wrong about living in a car, and how to be a good neighbor.
Being a good neighbor →
Life with Taz
"Takes one event to put you right where I'm at."
Darlene's take. Behind every number on this page is someone like Darlene: out of debt, saving, caring for a dog, and trying to get along. Her advice to readers is to save while you can, become self-sufficient, learn what help is available, and "just don't give up."
Reviewed by Darlene, who lives in her car with her dog Taz.
Sources
- U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. "How Communities Are Responding to Vehicular Homelessness." Report for Congress, September 2022. usich.gov. Accessed 2026-11-02.
- HUD. "The 2025 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress, Part 1: Point-in-Time Estimates of Homelessness." May 2026. huduser.gov. Accessed 2026-11-02.
- Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. "2024 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count" presentation, August 1, 2024, posted by the City of Los Angeles. cao.lacity.gov. Accessed 2026-11-02.
- King County Regional Homelessness Authority. "2024 Point-in-Time Count: Frequently Asked Questions." kcrha.org. Accessed 2026-11-02.
- U.S. Government Accountability Office. "Homelessness: Better HUD Oversight of Data Collection Could Improve Estimates of Homeless Population" (GAO-20-433). July 2020. gao.gov. Accessed 2026-11-02.
- King County Regional Homelessness Authority. "2024 Unsheltered Point-in-Time Count: Summary of Key Findings and FAQ." kcrha.org. Accessed 2026-11-02.
- Giamarino, C., Brozen, M., and Blumenberg, E. "Who Lives in Vehicles and Why? Understanding Vehicular Homelessness in Los Angeles." Housing Policy Debate, 2022. its.ucla.edu. Accessed 2026-11-02.
- Supreme Court of the United States. City of Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, No. 23-175, decided June 28, 2024. supremecourt.gov. Accessed 2026-11-02.
- HUD. "HUD Releases 2025 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress." News release No. 26-037, May 29, 2026. hud.gov. Accessed 2026-11-02.
- National Alliance to End Homelessness. "Long-Awaited Federal Data Shows the First Overall Reduction in Homelessness Since 2016." May 29, 2026. endhomelessness.org. Accessed 2026-11-02.
Continue
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This section
Living in your vehicle
The full set of guides for car living: warmth, power, food, a dog in the car, parking, hygiene, and keeping the car running.
All vehicle guidesGetting help
Finding help that helps
Mail, food benefits, health care, and a phone, without a home address.
Find helpContinue reading
What’s next
Steady
When Money Gets Tight: A Steady Starting Point
A calm starting point for money, work, and housing pressure, with guides and state resources.
Disruptions
Disruptions
Job loss, rent trouble, a medical crisis, a shutoff notice. Calm, shame-free guides for the hardest weeks.
Living in Your Vehicle
What People Get Wrong About Living in a Car
What the research shows about who lives in their cars, how many work, and what the life is actually like.