Homelessness in West Virginia

West Virginia may have one of the lower rates of homelessness in the country, but has the highest rate of those within that population who are chronically so, a new report estimates.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness found that 48% of the state's homeless in 2007 were chronic, or "individuals with a disability who have been homeless for long periods or who experience repeated episodes of homelessness."

The report also notes the problems in collecting reliable data to estimate chronic portions of that population. West Virginia's overall homeless rate was 13 out of every 10,000 residents. Nevada had the worst per-capita rate, of 49, and Mississippi the lowest at 5 per 10,000.

MetroNews reported on the findings. "Also notable from the report is that West Virginia experienced a 58-percent increase in its homeless population during the two years of that study," its item said. "The state began the study in 2005 with only 1,522 people who qualified as homeless. Two years later that jumped to 2,409 people living in either a shelter or on the street."