Foster Care statistics

At 18, most kids still have a family to fall back on. Fifteen thousand a year age out of foster care with none.

Most young adults lean on parents for rent, a car, advice, a couch to land on. Youth who age out of foster care face the same first lease and first job alone, often with a few weeks' notice.

Updated October 2026. Every figure links to its source below.

The odds

15,379

young people aged out of foster care with no permanent family in 20242

62%

of older youth (14 to 21) left care to a permanent family, against 98% of children 13 and under3

1 in 3

were homeless at least once by age 261

36% of 624 young adults in three Midwest states

had a two- or four-year college degree by 26, against 46% of their peers4

$8,950

median yearly earnings at 26, against $27,310 for their peers4

17%

had been incarcerated in the past two years when surveyed at 215

What changes the odds

Every extra year of support after 18 lowers the odds of homelessness and arrest and raises the odds of college. The difference is a caring adult and a backstop for the first apartment, and that can come from a mentor and a community instead of a state agency.

28%

lower odds of homelessness for each extra year of support after 186

California; an association, not proof of cause

41%

lower odds of being arrested for each extra year of support after 186

$650

more in savings at 23 for each extra year of support7

23%

of transition-age youth got any federal transition help in 2021, so most of this support never reaches them8

They need help. They need you.

They need mentors who stay past the paperwork, help with a deposit and a laptop, and someone who answers the phone at 2 a.m. the way a parent would. RISEaid walks with people through it: they do the work, and we connect them with the resources to get there.

Give Volunteer or mentor Get help: foster care

Need help yourself? Call or text 888-860-RISE. In an emergency call 911; for a mental health crisis call or text 988.

Questions people ask

How many youth age out of foster care each year?

15,379 young people left U.S. foster care through emancipation in federal fiscal 2024, about 9% of all exits, according to the federal AFCARS data.

What percentage of foster youth become homeless?

Between 31% and 46% of young people in a three-state study had been homeless at least once by age 26. In federal data, 26% reported homelessness in the past two years at age 21.

Does extended foster care help?

In California's CalYOUTH study, each extra year in care after 17 was associated with about 28% lower odds of homelessness and 41% lower odds of arrest by 21, and higher college enrollment.

The other five transitions

Incarceration statistics Addiction statistics Homelessness statistics Domestic Violence statistics Human Trafficking statistics

Sources

Figures were read on each source in October 2026. Where data is older, preliminary, from one state, or from a small study, the figure says so.

1.American Journal of Public Health (Dworsky, Napolitano & Courtney, 2013). Homelessness During the Transition From Foster Care to Adulthood
2.U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. AFCARS FY2024 dashboard
3.Child Trends (Rosenberg, 2025). Rates of Permanency Remain Low Among Older Youth in Foster Care
4.Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago (Courtney et al., 2011). Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of Former Foster Youth: Outcomes at Age 26
5.U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Youth in Transition Database outcomes, Cohort 3 (ages 17, 19, 21)
6.Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. CalYOUTH: Outcomes at age 21
7.Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago (2021). CalYOUTH: Impacts of Extended Care on Youth Outcomes Two Years after Foster Care Has Ended
8.Annie E. Casey Foundation (2023). Fostering Youth Transitions 2023