WASHINGTON, DC (24-7 News)--The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is releasing its updated information on the estimated number of homeless across the nation.
According to the report issued Monday, Central Ohio's homeless population shot up this year by almost seven percent to the second-highest amount in more than a decade.
Local advocates for the homeless blamed the increase on the cost of housing and while Franklin County has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state, wages haven't changed enough to meet rent demands.
Data from HUD shows Franklin County's homelessness rate increased at a faster pace than that of the state and the nation and 31 percent of the counties' homeless are classified as families meaning they were in groups that include children.
(photo via Getty Images)