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Understanding the personal networks of people experiencing homelessness in King County, WA with aggregate relational data

Zack W. Almquist et al.

Social Networks2026https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2026.02.003article
AJG 2
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

Personal networks among people experiencing homelessness are vital but often overlooked. Drawing on a unique three-year data set (2022–2024) from over 3000 unhoused individuals in King County, Washington, this study analyzes the structure and change of four different personal networks: acquaintances, close friends, kinship (household), and peer referrals. Using this respondent-driven sample data set, we find that the mean size of the acquaintance networks ranged from 22 to 27 people, while the mean number of close friendships declined from 4.9 to 4.19. This drop, despite population growth, suggests a decrease in network density and potentially an increase in social isolation or a shift in composition (e.g., more people experiencing homelessness for the first time). However, we do see growth in the kinship networks, which grew slightly, indicating a greater prevalence of family co-homelessness or reliance on kin. These shifts highlight the need for policies that foster social connection and community stability. • Largest network study of people experiencing homelessness in the U.S. • Close friendships decrease over 2023–2024, indicating declining density in the close friendship network. • The size of kinship networks is increasing. • Overall, networks of people experiencing homelessness appear to be becoming more anomic — possibly due to an influx of newly homeless individuals or increased displacement events.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2026.02.003

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{zack2026,
  title        = {{Understanding the personal networks of people experiencing homelessness in King County, WA with aggregate relational data}},
  author       = {Zack W. Almquist et al.},
  journal      = {Social Networks},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socnet.2026.02.003},
}

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Understanding the personal networks of people experiencing homelessness in King County, WA with aggregate relational data

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.