Kentucky sees a ‘slowdown’ of rate of homelessness, but not in all parts of the state

The increasing rate of homelessness across Kentucky has slowed down compared to past years, but there are “still too many” people experiencing homelessness. 

That’s according to new statewide survey data provided to the Kentucky Lantern this month by the Kentucky Housing Corporation, a quasi-governmental agency that manages federal and state housing funding. 

The data is from Kentucky’s version of the nationwide Point-in-Time Count where volunteers and agency outreach workers around the beginning of each year seek to count the number of people who lack “a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence,” the federal definition of homeless used for the survey. 

This year’s survey, conducted in February, found that 5,734 people across all 120 counties met that definition across the state, a slight decrease from 2025 when the survey counted 5,789 people experiencing homelessness. Those total numbers encompass people who are unsheltered, in an emergency shelter and in transitional housing.

But the trendlines of homelessness in Kentucky are different depending on the part of the state. 

In Louisville, the survey found a 12% decrease year over year in the total number of people counted, from 1831 to 1609 people. But Lexington and the 118 counties beyond the state’s two largest cities, known as the “Balance of State”, each saw increases in their respective counts of more than 4%. 

Shaye Rabold, a technical administrator for the Kentucky House Corporation, told the Lantern the data shows a “slowdown” in the rate of homelessness after previous years of more dramatic increases. 

She said Louisville has made notable local investments in what’s known as permanent supportive housing, where someone is provided with permanent housing while also receiving other support including financial assistance with utility bills and childcare, substance abuse treatment and other forms of help. But she said that’s generally not the case in other counties.

“The reality is the resources in most of our counties are not enough,” Rabold said, mentioning that many counties lack emergency shelters. “There’s just simply not enough existing affordable housing for people to identify on their own.” 

Rabold said the lack of affordable housing remains the driving reason behind increasing rates of homelessness, though other individual factors including mental health and substance abuse disorders can play a role. A Kentucky Housing Corporation executive said earlier this year that Kentucky is still not building nearly enough housing, particularly for low-income people, to bridge the state’s housing shortage. 

Adrienne Bush, the executive director of the advocacy group Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky, told the Lantern that Trump administration efforts, currently entangled in litigation, to move federal funding away from permanent supportive housing programs has had a “huge impact” and created uncertainty for Kentucky organizations addressing homelessness.  

“I just can’t emphasize enough how that disruption really ultimately impacts the people who are currently experiencing homelessness and who are seeking services,” Bush said. 

Bush said she wouldn’t be surprised if next year’s survey numbers show an increase because organizations in Kentucky aren’t able to fully deploy federal funding because of the uncertainty.