10 Cities With Extremely High Homeless Populations

#10 Sao Paulo, Brazil

Based on a study conducted recently, around 10,000 people are homeless in the center of Sao Paulo Brazil. Most sleep in old abandoned buildings and hotels.


#9 Budapest, Hungary

In Budapest alone, there are about 10,000 homeless people. Recently, the Hungarian government passed a law that criminalizes homelessness, forcing those who do not want to stay in government-provided shelters to have their own homes. As of today, around 6,000 of the homeless population live in Budapest shelters.


#8 Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Homeless are said to be the phantoms of Buenos Aires streets. As of today, there are about 15,000 homeless people residing in the filthy streets of the city and with the city’s public refuges hosting 1,700 beds for the homeless, this is a scenario that is not going to change any time soon.


#7 Mumbai, India

In 2003, there were about 23 million homeless people in India. Since then, the number has gone up despite the programs implemented by the government to reduce its homelessness rate. In Mumbai alone, there are about 25,000 people who sleep on the streets every night.


#6 Jakarta, Indonesia

According to the 2000 census, around 28,364 people are homeless in Jakarta, Indonesia. However, due to recent natural calamities such as floods and storms the homeless population has grown significantly.


#5 Mexico City, Mexico

40% of the total population of Mexico is living in poverty and according to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) the number of people on the streets of the Mexican capital stands to be between 15,000 and 30,000.

#4 Moscow, Russia

There are about 5 million homeless people in Russia and of that number, 1 million are children. Studies show that Moscow has the largest share of homeless people in the country, accounting for 10,000 – 50,000 (depending on the source of information). Despite the ever growing number, there remains no social approach to the problem.

#3 Los Angeles, U.S.A.

The city of Los Angeles has one of the largest concentrations of homeless people in the United States. Currently, it houses about 57,737 homeless people (second only to New York city).

#2 New York City

As of 2013, the number of homeless people sleeping each night in the New York City shelter system was already over 60,000, 22,000 of which were children. The homelessness crisis in New York is brought by the lack of housing assistance initiatives provided by local authorities to individuals and families who lack housing.

#1 Manila, Philippines

According to Homeless International, around 22.8 million reside in slums. And according to a Philippine government report, 1.2 million are children who live either by peddling or begging on the streets; 70,000 of which come from Metro Manila alone.