Untreated disease, violence, exposure, overdoses and car strikes are all added hazards of living on the streets

The number of Americans dying while homeless has surged dramatically in the past five years, an exclusive analysis by the Guardian in conjunction with an academic expert at the University of Washington has shown.

An examination of 20 US urban areas found the number of deaths among people living without housing shot up by 77% in the five years ending in 2020.

The rise from 2016 through 2020 was driven by many factors, including ever-rising numbers of people living on the street and the growing dangers they face, such as violence, untreated disease and increasingly deadly illicit drug supplies.