It's a bit more complex than that. At the surface, it's true - only 15% of homeless people in Seattle lived out of county before becoming homeless. But a deeper

It's a bit more complex than that. At the surface, it's true - only 15% of homeless people in Seattle lived out of county before becoming homeless. But a deeper look shows as many as 30% more never really could afford housing - they had marginal housing situations, living with a friend, relative, or romantic partner without paying a proportionate share for their prior living situation. This is part of the discrepancy - one side shoves the 15% number at everybody while the other side shoves at 45% number at everybody - we can't agree on what we're measuring. See e.g. http://allhomekc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Updated-7.11-King-County-Report.pdf http://allhomekc.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Updated-7.11... Edit: not to mention that these studies are all surveys and this political issue is pretty well known, so there is a strong incentive to lie.