1 in 8 NYC public school students was homeless last school year: 138,000 kids, down 10% but above 100,000 for an 11th year

More than 138,000 New York City public school students — about one in every eight — lived in temporary housing at some point during the 2025–26 school year, according to state data released Tuesday by the nonprofit Advocates for Children of New York (AFC). The data come from the New York State Education Department.

That is a 10% drop from 2024–25, when the count passed 154,000 for the first time. AFC said the decline was driven mostly by a 22% fall in the number of students living in shelters. It is still the 11th straight year above 100,000 — roughly the population of Albany, AFC said.

Shelter vs. doubled up

• In shelter: more than 50,700 students (37%) spent time in a city shelter, AFC said.
• Doubled up: about 81,100 (58%) were temporarily sharing someone else's home because they lost housing or for economic hardship.
• Every borough saw declines in both the number and the share of homeless students, according to AFC.

Where the rates are highest

The Bronx again had the highest rate — nearly 1 in 6 students, Chalkbeat reported — followed by Manhattan at about 1 in 7. Manhattan also saw the biggest year-over-year drop, about 18%, largely because fewer of its students were in shelters. Staten Island had the lowest rate, about 1 in 20.

At the district level, more than 1 in 5 students were homeless in District 9 (Highbridge and Grand Concourse), District 23 (Brownsville) and District 32 (Bushwick). In District 23, more than one in eight students was in a shelter — about triple the citywide rate, AFC said. Queens' District 26 (Bayside, Fresh Meadows, Jamaica Estates) was under 5%, Chalkbeat reported.

Why it matters in the classroom

AFC's education indicators for the prior school year show the toll:

• Absences: nearly half of students in temporary housing, and 63% of those in shelters, were chronically absent in 2024–25 — at least 1.1 million lost instructional days combined.
• Transfers: one in five students in shelter changed schools mid-year, more than four times the rate of permanently housed students.
• Reading: in 2025, 27% of third- to eighth-graders living in shelter read proficiently on state tests, less than half the rate of their housed peers.
• Graduation: 59% of students in shelter graduated on time in 2025 and 14% dropped out, about triple the dropout rate of housed students. The citywide on-time rate was 81%, Chalkbeat said.

Shelter placements and buses

AFC said 37% of families were first placed in a shelter in a different borough from their youngest child's school, and that 1,775 students in shelter ended the 2025–26 year still waiting for bus service. Jennifer Pringle, who directs AFC's Learners in Temporary Housing Project, told Chalkbeat that getting a bus route typically takes more than a month and that there is no mechanism to revisit a shelter placement once it is made. AFC is calling for an overhaul of the decades-old school bus contracts and better coordination between the schools and the Department of Homeless Services.

Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels told Chalkbeat the Education Department has worked with other agencies on family policies and expanded community schools in districts with many shelters, and that "this work is far from over."

Where to get help

Advocates for Children runs a Learners in Temporary Housing Project and publishes guides and tip sheets through its Get Help page. For school transportation or enrollment problems, families can also ask their school or shelter staff.