Housing, utilities and food were among the top U.S. community needs in 2024, according to United Way Worldwide’s latest 211 Impact Survey.

The survey analyzed 18.1 million referrals for assistance made via calls to 211, a phone number that connects to local assistance organizations in the U.S. It found that the 211 operators made 5.6 million referrals for housing assistance, 2.9 million for utilities and 2.5 million for food. It’s the third consecutive year that housing, utilities and food have dominated 211 referrals for assistance. The annual survey had data spanning all 50 states.

UWW President and CEO Angela F. Williams said the survey findings show that people across the country “are struggling to meet their basic needs.”

 “At a moment when individuals and communities need more support, but national and local resources are uncertain, it’s vital to use these data to identify cross-sector solutions that will help our communities thrive,” Williams said in a statement.

Housing referrals are among those that have increased the most in recent years, growing 16% compared with 2022 and doubling compared with 2019 housing referrals. The number of people experiencing homelessness hit record highs in 2024. 

In its January report to Congress, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development pointed to an increasing housing affordability crisis as one of the top causes for the rise in homelessness. The median national home price reached a record high of $407,500 in 2024, a 4.7% increase from 2023, according to the National Association of Realtors.  

Housing and utility assistance referrals combined made up more than 45% of all 211 referrals in 2024. Like housing costs, utility costs have been on the rise in the U.S., with overall utility payment cost per customer jumping 6% year over year in January, according to the Bank of America Institute. Water payments alone were up 7.5% year over year.

Referrals for food assistance, meanwhile, increased 5% year over year, according to the 211 Impact Survey. Other top referrals in 2024 were for legal, consumer and public safety assistance; mental health and substance abuse disorders assistance; individual, family and community support; and income support and financial assistance.

Referrals for disaster-related assistance jumped more than 50% year over year in 2024, with a “heavy volume” of referrals coming from North Carolina, California and Texas, according to UWW. Last year the U.S. experienced 27 individual climate disasters that caused at least $1 billion in damages, the second-highest number of recorded climate disasters of that magnitude in a single year, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.