The homeless population on Long Island is exploding, with the region reporting the highest levels of housing instability in nearly two decades, new data show.
More than 4,500 people between Nassau and Suffolk counties were homeless in 2025 — a 13% jump from 2024 and the most counted since the tracking began in 2007, according to numbers released by the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless.
“Most families that entered homelessness during this time period, [did so] despite working, as rental costs outpaced wages,” Mike Giuffrida, associate director of the coalition, told The Post about the findings.
Giuffrida noted that the surge was in part caused by a backlog of evictions that were halted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the increase seemed to be largely driven by a wave of middle-aged and senior Long Islanders who appear to be being priced out of the region, according to the organization.
“Seniors becoming homeless for the first time was the other significant factor in this overall increase,” Giuffrida said.
Long Island’s older homeless population has steadily been growing for years due to the region’s “skyrocketing rental costs,” he added.
The number of homeless people in the 45-54 age range shot up over 35%, by far the largest spike among any demographic, the data show.
Those over 55 years old were right behind, shooting up from just over 670 in 2024 to 825 last year — an over 22% jump, according to the data.
But children by far made up the largest share of the homeless population at 32%, with nearly 1,500 of the total 4,500 being kids, the data show.
As housing instability grows across the region, Long Island leaders and non-profits are trying to tackle the issue.
Last month, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman partnered with Long Island’s largest soup kitchen, Hempstead’s Mary Brennan INN, to begin offering pet food for the animals of homeless people who come in for a meal.
The month prior, Blakeman gifted the abandoned Long Beach Motor Inn, which was overrun by drug-use and prostitution, to a non-profit that will spend $20 million to convert the site into housing for struggling veterans.
In neighboring Suffolk, the county’s Department of Social Services is proactively reaching out to people in need, including visiting homeless encampments and other areas where unsheltered residents are known to gather, according to officials.
“No person should go homeless or hungry. This extreme cold weather makes it even more urgent to do whatever possible to help provide people with warmth and shelter,” Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine told The Post.
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