Year-over-Year Comparison Each column independently deduplicated
Methodology & Definitions
Served: Unduplicated persons with active enrollment (EntryDate ≤ period end, ExitDate NULL or ≥ period start). Night-by-Night shelters also require a bed night service record.
Housed: Leavers who exited to a Permanent Housing destination (HUD codes 400-499).
Housing Rate: Housed ÷ Exiting × 100.
Entering: Persons with EntryDate within the period.
Exiting: Persons with ExitDate within the period.
System Total: Deduplicated across all project types (a person in both ES and RRH counts once).
Housed: Leavers who exited to a Permanent Housing destination (HUD codes 400-499).
Housing Rate: Housed ÷ Exiting × 100.
Entering: Persons with EntryDate within the period.
Exiting: Persons with ExitDate within the period.
System Total: Deduplicated across all project types (a person in both ES and RRH counts once).
Breakdown by Project Type Housing rates vary by program design
▲ Blue ≥50% · — Gray 25-49% · ▼ Orange <25% — Low rates in ES/SO are expected (crisis/engagement). System Total is deduplicated across types.
1
Where Are People Coming From?— Prior Living Situation (most recent entry per person)2
How Long Are People Staying?Stayers — Still Enrolled at Period End
Leavers — People Who Exited
Based on most recent exit per person. Count may differ slightly from the Housed KPI.
3
Where Do People Go When They Leave?— Exit Destinations (leavers only)Methodology & Key Terms
Key terms used on this page:
Stayers — People still enrolled in the program at the end of the selected period.
Leavers — People who exited the program during the selected period.
Adults — People age 18 or older at the time they entered the program. Income data is only collected for adults.
Clients — Individual people. Households — Family or household groups, counted by the Head of Household (one household = one head of household).
Permanent Housing (PH) — Stable housing destinations such as rental housing, homeownership, or permanently staying with family.
How we avoid double-counting: Each person is counted once per section, even if they enrolled in the same program type more than once during the period. When someone has multiple enrollments, the most recent one determines their prior living situation, length of stay, and exit destination.
The five summary numbers at the top:
Served — Total people who were active in this program type during the period. For Night-by-Night shelters, the person must have at least one bed night recorded.
Housed — People who left the program and went to permanent housing.
Housing Rate — The percentage of all people who exited that went to permanent housing (Housed ÷ Exiting × 100).
Entering — People who started a new enrollment during the period.
Exiting — People who left the program during the period.
The arrows compare each number to the same period one year ago.
Section 1 — Where Are People Coming From?
Shows where people were living just before they entered the program. Only people who entered during this period are included. Categories: Homeless (shelters, streets, vehicles), Institutional (hospitals, jails, treatment), Temporary (staying with friends/family, hotels), Permanent (own housing, subsidized housing), Not Reported.
Section 2 — How Long Are People Staying?
Left side (Stayers): People still enrolled at the end of the period. Bars show how long they have been enrolled so far.
Right side (Leavers): People who exited during the period. Cards show the average and median length of their completed stay. The median is less affected by unusually long or short stays and is often more representative.
How stay length is measured depends on the program: most programs count days from entry to exit (or to the period end for stayers). Night-by-Night shelters count actual bed nights. Permanent Housing programs measure from the move-in date rather than enrollment date.
Section 3 — Where Do People Go When They Leave?
Shows where leavers went after exiting. Each person appears in one category based on their most recent exit. Categories: Permanent Housing (the primary success metric), Temporary, Institutional, Homeless, Deceased, Other / Not Reported.
The Permanent Housing count here may differ by 1–2 from the Housed number at the top. The Housed KPI counts anyone with at least one PH exit; this chart assigns each person to one category based on their latest exit only.
Section 4 — Permanent Housing Metrics (PSH, RRH, Housing Only, Housing with Services only)
The housing pipeline shows where people stand:
• Active & Living in PH — Still enrolled and already moved into housing.
• Exited to PH — Left the program to permanent housing.
• Pending Move-In — Enrolled but waiting for housing placement (no move-in date yet).
• Maintained PH Rate — The share of all people served who either stayed in permanent housing or reached it upon exit.
Time to Housing Move-In shows how long it took from enrollment to moving into housing. This only includes leavers who exited to PH with a move-in date; stayers are not included, which is why this count is smaller than Active & Living in PH.
Income Changes (adults 18+ in Permanent Housing programs only)
At Exit compares income when the adult entered the program to income when they left.
At Annual Review compares income at entry to the most recent yearly review, for adults enrolled at least one year.
Categories (in priority order — the first match applies): Gained Employment (started earning wages), Increased Earned Income (already employed, now earns more), Gained Non-Employment Income (new benefits like SSI or SSDI), Maintained Income (income stayed the same or went up), No Income at Exit / No Income Change (all other situations).
Children are excluded because HUD only collects income data for adults.
Street Outreach Metrics (Street Outreach only)
Monthly Contacts shows the number of outreach contacts per month.
Avg Days Enrolled by Exit Destination shows, for each destination, the average time people were enrolled before leaving.
Reporting periods:
Calendar Year (CY) — January through December. Federal Year (FY) — October through September (the fiscal year HUD uses). Year-over-year comparisons always use the same period type one year prior.
Stayers — People still enrolled in the program at the end of the selected period.
Leavers — People who exited the program during the selected period.
Adults — People age 18 or older at the time they entered the program. Income data is only collected for adults.
Clients — Individual people. Households — Family or household groups, counted by the Head of Household (one household = one head of household).
Permanent Housing (PH) — Stable housing destinations such as rental housing, homeownership, or permanently staying with family.
How we avoid double-counting: Each person is counted once per section, even if they enrolled in the same program type more than once during the period. When someone has multiple enrollments, the most recent one determines their prior living situation, length of stay, and exit destination.
The five summary numbers at the top:
Served — Total people who were active in this program type during the period. For Night-by-Night shelters, the person must have at least one bed night recorded.
Housed — People who left the program and went to permanent housing.
Housing Rate — The percentage of all people who exited that went to permanent housing (Housed ÷ Exiting × 100).
Entering — People who started a new enrollment during the period.
Exiting — People who left the program during the period.
The arrows compare each number to the same period one year ago.
Section 1 — Where Are People Coming From?
Shows where people were living just before they entered the program. Only people who entered during this period are included. Categories: Homeless (shelters, streets, vehicles), Institutional (hospitals, jails, treatment), Temporary (staying with friends/family, hotels), Permanent (own housing, subsidized housing), Not Reported.
Section 2 — How Long Are People Staying?
Left side (Stayers): People still enrolled at the end of the period. Bars show how long they have been enrolled so far.
Right side (Leavers): People who exited during the period. Cards show the average and median length of their completed stay. The median is less affected by unusually long or short stays and is often more representative.
How stay length is measured depends on the program: most programs count days from entry to exit (or to the period end for stayers). Night-by-Night shelters count actual bed nights. Permanent Housing programs measure from the move-in date rather than enrollment date.
Section 3 — Where Do People Go When They Leave?
Shows where leavers went after exiting. Each person appears in one category based on their most recent exit. Categories: Permanent Housing (the primary success metric), Temporary, Institutional, Homeless, Deceased, Other / Not Reported.
The Permanent Housing count here may differ by 1–2 from the Housed number at the top. The Housed KPI counts anyone with at least one PH exit; this chart assigns each person to one category based on their latest exit only.
Section 4 — Permanent Housing Metrics (PSH, RRH, Housing Only, Housing with Services only)
The housing pipeline shows where people stand:
• Active & Living in PH — Still enrolled and already moved into housing.
• Exited to PH — Left the program to permanent housing.
• Pending Move-In — Enrolled but waiting for housing placement (no move-in date yet).
• Maintained PH Rate — The share of all people served who either stayed in permanent housing or reached it upon exit.
Time to Housing Move-In shows how long it took from enrollment to moving into housing. This only includes leavers who exited to PH with a move-in date; stayers are not included, which is why this count is smaller than Active & Living in PH.
Income Changes (adults 18+ in Permanent Housing programs only)
At Exit compares income when the adult entered the program to income when they left.
At Annual Review compares income at entry to the most recent yearly review, for adults enrolled at least one year.
Categories (in priority order — the first match applies): Gained Employment (started earning wages), Increased Earned Income (already employed, now earns more), Gained Non-Employment Income (new benefits like SSI or SSDI), Maintained Income (income stayed the same or went up), No Income at Exit / No Income Change (all other situations).
Children are excluded because HUD only collects income data for adults.
Street Outreach Metrics (Street Outreach only)
Monthly Contacts shows the number of outreach contacts per month.
Avg Days Enrolled by Exit Destination shows, for each destination, the average time people were enrolled before leaving.
Reporting periods:
Calendar Year (CY) — January through December. Federal Year (FY) — October through September (the fiscal year HUD uses). Year-over-year comparisons always use the same period type one year prior.
Race / Ethnicity
Household Type
Age Distribution
Veteran Status (Adults 18+)
Chronic Homelessness
Disabling Condition
How are these numbers calculated?
How we count people: Each person is counted once, even if they received services from multiple programs during the period. A person is included if they were enrolled in a program at any point during the selected time period. For night-by-night shelters, they must also have stayed at least one night.
When someone has multiple records: If a person was in more than one program, we use the most recent one to determine their demographics. The exceptions are Chronic Homelessness and Disabling Condition — if any program record says “yes,” the person is counted as yes.
Race / Ethnicity: People can select more than one race. Anyone who selected multiple races appears as “Multi-Racial.” Comparing these shares to the general population can reveal which groups are overrepresented in homelessness.
Age: A person’s age is based on their date of birth, calculated at the time they were active in the system during the reporting period.
Household Type: Determined by who is in the household together. For example, a single adult 25+ living alone is “Single Adult,” while a parent with children is “Household with Children.” Youth households (ages 18-24) are identified separately — “Accompanied Youth” means a young person with children but no older adults, and “Unaccompanied Youth” means young adults on their own.
Veteran Status: Only counted for adults 18 and older — children are not included. “Non-Veteran” means the person confirmed they are not a veteran.
Chronic Homelessness: A person is chronically homeless if they have a long-term disability and have been homeless for at least 12 months straight, or have experienced homelessness 4 or more times in the past 3 years adding up to at least 12 months. This is checked when a person first enters a program. If anyone in a household qualifies, all household members present at that time are also counted. “Missing” means there was not enough information to make a determination.
Disabling Condition: Includes physical, developmental, mental health, substance use, HIV/AIDS, or chronic health conditions that are expected to be long-term. “Yes” means at least one program recorded a disabling condition. “No” means every program record confirmed no disabling condition.
When someone has multiple records: If a person was in more than one program, we use the most recent one to determine their demographics. The exceptions are Chronic Homelessness and Disabling Condition — if any program record says “yes,” the person is counted as yes.
Race / Ethnicity: People can select more than one race. Anyone who selected multiple races appears as “Multi-Racial.” Comparing these shares to the general population can reveal which groups are overrepresented in homelessness.
Age: A person’s age is based on their date of birth, calculated at the time they were active in the system during the reporting period.
Household Type: Determined by who is in the household together. For example, a single adult 25+ living alone is “Single Adult,” while a parent with children is “Household with Children.” Youth households (ages 18-24) are identified separately — “Accompanied Youth” means a young person with children but no older adults, and “Unaccompanied Youth” means young adults on their own.
Veteran Status: Only counted for adults 18 and older — children are not included. “Non-Veteran” means the person confirmed they are not a veteran.
Chronic Homelessness: A person is chronically homeless if they have a long-term disability and have been homeless for at least 12 months straight, or have experienced homelessness 4 or more times in the past 3 years adding up to at least 12 months. This is checked when a person first enters a program. If anyone in a household qualifies, all household members present at that time are also counted. “Missing” means there was not enough information to make a determination.
Disabling Condition: Includes physical, developmental, mental health, substance use, HIV/AIDS, or chronic health conditions that are expected to be long-term. “Yes” means at least one program recorded a disabling condition. “No” means every program record confirmed no disabling condition.
Active Clients Over Time Monthly count + 12-month rolling average
Shaded area = monthly active count. Dashed line = 12-month rolling average. Upward trend = growing caseload.
Net Flow (Entries − Exits) — Last 24 Months
More entries than exits
More exits than entries
Seasonality Index — % Deviation from Annual Avg When is demand highest?
Blue = above average, orange = below average.
Understanding System Performance Measures HUD-mandated metrics
| SPM | Question | Metric Shown | Scope | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOW BIG IS THE PROBLEM? | ||||
| SPM 3 | How many people are homeless? | Unduplicated count | ES + SH + TH only | ▼ Lower = better |
| SPM 5 | How many are first-time homeless? | First-time entries | ES + SH + TH (24-mo lookback) | ▼ Lower = better |
| HOW WELL IS THE SYSTEM RESPONDING? | ||||
| SPM 1 | How long are people in the system? | Median days | ES + SH bed-nights (system-wide) | ▼ Lower = better |
| SPM 7b.1 | Are people exiting to PH? | Exit-to-PH rate % | Leavers from ES/SH/TH/RRH | ▲ Higher = better |
| ARE OUTCOMES LASTING? | ||||
| SPM 7b.2 | Are people retaining PH? | PH retention rate % | PSH/PH-HO/PH-HS with MoveIn | ▲ Higher = better |
| SPM 2 | Are people staying housed? | 2-year return rate % | Prior PH exits (2-yr lookback) | ▼ Lower = better |
| SPM 4 | Are people increasing income? | % increased income | CoC-funded stayers (365+ days) | ▲ Higher = better |
How SPMs Differ from Other Tabs
| Concept | Other Tab | SPM | Why They Differ |
|---|---|---|---|
| People Homeless | Overview “Served” — all project types | SPM 3 — ES + SH + TH only | Narrower scope; SPM 3 is always smaller |
| Entering | Overview “Entering” — all types, no lookback | SPM 5 — ES/SH/TH, 24-mo lookback | SPM 5 splits first-time vs. returning |
| Length of Stay | Explorer “LOS” — single enrollment | SPM 1 — system bed-nights + contiguity | SPM 1 spans multiple enrollments; usually longer |
| Housing Rate | Overview “Housing Rate” — all types | SPM 7b.1 — ES/SH/TH/RRH leavers | Excludes system stayers; stricter denominator |
| PH Retention | Explorer “Maintained PH Rate” | SPM 7b.2 — HUD stayer/leaver rules | Stricter HUD classification; rates may differ |
| Returns | No equivalent | SPM 2 — 2-yr return rate | Unique; tracks past PH exits ~2 years later |
| Income | Explorer “Income” — any funder | SPM 4 — CoC-funded, 365+ day stayers | Smaller universe; stricter eligibility |
Data Lookback Requirements
| Measure | Lookback | Why |
|---|---|---|
| SPM 1 (Length of Stay) | ~6 years | Backward scan for prior homeless history (street dates, earlier ES/SH entries) |
| SPM 2 (Returns) | 2 years | Exit cohort drawn from 2 years before report start; forward-scans for returns |
| SPM 5 (First-Time) | 2 years | Checks for no prior enrollment in 24 months before entry |
| SPM 3, 4, 7 | None | Only need enrollments within the report period |