Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities are among the fastest‑growing racial groups in the US, and recent data show rising homelessness among AANHPI households and persistent unmet need for affordable, high‑quality rental housing. Yet, their experiences with housing instability and homelessness remain largely understudied. This report integrates national data with insights from community‑based organizations, gathered through surveys and listening sessions, to illuminate AANHPI households’ experiences with housing instability and homelessness and to identify opportunities for more responsive policy and practice.

Why This Matters

This study builds on Urban’s broader body of work on AANHPI homeownership and upward mobility, which examines long-term trends in homeownership access, wealth-building trajectories, and geographic mobility among AANHPI households—areas that have historically received limited attention in housing and wealth-building research. This report aims to strengthen the evidence base on the full range of housing experiences shaping opportunity and vulnerability across AANHPI communities, with a focus on housing instability and homelessness.

What We Found

• Homelessness among the AANHPI population has grown faster than among the general population in the past decade.
• High-cost housing markets drive much of the instability, with many AANHPI households living in regions where limited affordable housing fuels overcrowding and financial strain.
• Survey respondents and listening session participants report that AANHPI households more commonly experience less visible forms of housing instability, including doubling up, overcrowding, and multigenerational living arrangements.
• Structural pressures intersect with cultural and linguistic barriers, including cultural stigma around seeking help, interpretation needs, and limited familiarity with homelessness systems—all factors that mask need and hinder access to support.

Addressing gaps requires better data, culturally responsive interventions, and stronger partnerships with community‑based organizations, alongside federal investments in prevention, rental assistance, and stabilization supports. We make the following policy recommendations to better serve AANHPI communities:

• Expand cultural and linguistic access to services.
• Strengthen early housing stability interventions for households at risk of homelessness.
• Improve coordination across the school, health, and housing systems to identify unstably housing situations and connections to services.
• Strengthen supports for older adults.
• Advance disaggregated data efforts to support local targeting of services and interventions.
• Improve measurement of housing instability among AANHPI households.

How We Did It

The research team conducted a mixed‑methods study that combined a landscape scan of existing literature and national datasets on AANHPI housing and homelessness with surveys and listening sessions involving community‑based organizations serving AANHPI communities. The survey and listening sessions explored community observations of housing instability and homelessness, the cultural and systemic factors shaping these experiences, and opportunities for policy or funding interventions to improve service delivery.