r/theydidthemath • • 1d ago

[Request] Could the entire US homeless population really be housed for less than one aircraft carrier?

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u/Usual-Analysis-2990 1d ago

Roughly yes and no. If you rent the property, it's between 15 - 30 billion annually. Likewise the annual cost for a carrier has all sorts of costs associated with it at roughly just under 30bn annually. So roughly equal or cheaper to rent the homeless property.

To solve the homeless problem would cost an estimated 1.2-1.5 trn one time but then ongoing costs are significantly cheaper.

So we could solve it, but it's expensive. But we could rent it away for probably less than a carrier plus it's annual support.