Does poverty cause homelessness?

I like looking at the extremes. If it were actually true that capitalism causes selfishness, then what are the odds that the world’s most free market country would also be the world’s most egalitarian country? But it is.

If it were actually true that fertility rates are falling because it’s too costly to raise kids these days, then what are the odds that the biggest fall in fertility in the entire world would have occurred in the country with the fastest economic growth over the past 60 years? But it did.

Today, I found another example:

As homelessness skyrockets across the country, Mississippi’s numbers are trending in the right direction.

According to USAFacts, 3.3 out of 10,000 people experienced sheltered homelessness in Mississippi last year. With 982 people experiencing homelessness in Mississippi in 2023, the state has the lowest rate of homelessness nationwide. This accounts for about 0.0015% of America’s homeless population. This is over five times lower than Mississippi’s share of the country’s overall population.

This link provides data for all fifty states:

Unfortunately, the color coding here is total homeless population, which is why Wyoming appears lower than Mississippi. If you go to the link and click on each state, you’ll find the per capita figures, which are more meaningful. New York and Hawaii have the highest rates, although elsewhere I read that California has the most homeless people actually living on the streets. Many homeless New Yorkers are in shelters. Mississippi is lowest in per capita terms.

So here’s my question: If poverty actually did cause homelessness, then what are the odds that the lowest rate of homelessness would occur in America’s poorest state? Even if there were no correlation, the odds would be only 1 in 50. If there actually was a positive correlation between poverty rates in a state and homelessness, then it would be even more surprising to find Mississippi having the lowest homeless rate.

In my view, homelessness has multiple causes. For homeless people in shelters, restrictions on building are a major cause. For those on the street, drugs and mental illness also play a big role. Poverty is far down the list.