Homelessness can certainly happen to anybody, but not all demographies are equally vulnerable. Although the specifics of who is the most vulnerable tend to change depending on local contexts and socio-economic factors, by and large, already-marginalized populations will be the ones who are most at risk. Globally, certain patterns of homelessness emerge along lines of class, race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, disability, and age; in addition, there is a complex relationship between homelessness and conflict, which can create populations of people are displaced or stateless, while climate change has increasingly prompted higher migration rates from vulnerable areas. 

Each of these demographies faces its own set of problems, traumas, and barriers to housing.