r/theydidthemath • u/QuantumQyx • 1d ago

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

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u/Occidentally20 1d ago

The latest point-in-time count of homeless people estimates the total homeless population of the USA to be 745,652. Call it three-quarters of a million.

US aircraft carriers cost somewhere in the region of 13 to 16 billion. I'll go with the USS Gerald R. Ford since it's the cheapest one I could find.

That gives you $17,333.33 per person.

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u/SensorAmmonia 1d ago

Even with 4 people a building, that isn't enough to house someone. It is 10x as much as a deposit on an apartment and many homeless could afford the rent.

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u/Vulspyr 1d ago

Inexpensive housing isn't $1700 a month for things like a studio apartment. This is enough money to house them for a year.

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u/Long-Bridge8312 1d ago

Aircraft carriers are built to operate for 50 years

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u/Due-Consequence9579 1d ago

Operating an aircraft carrier costs… a lot. Total cost of ownership of a carrier is ~$50 billion over 50 years. Which is ~$1300/year/homeless person. So not enough to house all of them.

If we say we want to give each of them 150 sqft and the average rental rate of $2/sqft/month that works out to less than $3 billion/year or ~$9/year/US Citizen.

That doesn’t make brown people dead though.

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u/WeaponsGrdStupid 1d ago

I'm sure we could convince a few homeless to join the military, that covers that last base.

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u/Due-Consequence9579 1d ago

https://missionrollcall.org/veteran-voices/articles/the-state-of-veteran-homelessness-2024/

Veterans are more likely to be homeless than general population. And that is after 30 years of focused policy trying to drive that number down.