Asheville’s Housing Crisis Deepens: Unpaid Federal Aid, Shutdown Leave Homelessness at Record Highs

Asheville-Buncombe County -- New data released on March 27, 2026, reveals a sobering milestone for Buncombe County: the local unhoused population has reached its highest point in recorded history. The annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count identifies 824 individuals currently without permanent housing—a sharp 9% increase over 2025. Local officials say the spike is inextricably linked to the long-tail recovery from Tropical Storm Helene and a bottleneck of unpaid federal disaster aid.While the city has