SALT LAKE CITY — An annual nationwide census shows the number of homeless people in Utah has climbed 13 percent between 2011 and 2012.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reports that 3,527 homeless people were counted in Utah during the 2012 census. That’s up from 3,160 a year earlier.
This year’s number includes 330 chronically homeless people, and 331 homeless veterans.
The data comes from a nationwide, point-in-time count conducted by community workers one night in late January. The count found about 634,000 homeless people in the U.S.
Overall numbers were down less than 1 percent, but homelessness among veterans was down 7 percent year-over-year.
Federal housing officials attribute that largely to a rental assistance program coordinated by Veterans Affairs and HUD.
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