Homeless with Homework

Map: Homeless Students Across the Boroughs

Posted on 06. May, 2010 by Colby Hamilton in STATISTICS AND DATA

Homelessness is often presented as a citywide problem. The issue certainly affects the city as a whole, but the impact is not spread evenly. The map below shows the number of homeless students in each New York City school district. It provides a graphic reminder that the burden is being borne disproportionally by certain schools, districts and communities.

The maps are based on figures from the Department of Education. Each school district is required to track where a student lives. But because housing status is not frequently updated, the homeless student count is both over- and under-reported. The figures also include students who are living in a home with multiple families. Our data is calculated as a percentage of the total students in the district. The most recent numbers available are from 2008-2009.

Vital Stats

• Manhattan’s District 4, which includes East Harlem and Randall’s Island, has the highest proportion of students who are homeless in the city–more than one out of every nine.
• Queens’s District 26, encompassing the neighborhoods of Fresh Meadows and Bayside, only one percent of the student population is homeless.
• Most districts have a dramatic spike in homeless students in high school, which falls precipitously after the 10th or 11th grade. Advocates theorize that students with an unstable home life are held back once they enter the ninth grade, and drop out once they reach 17, the age of emancipation.