When we talk about homelessness, the data we rely on often comes from counts and systems that were not built to see everyone. In DeKalb County, Georgia, one of the largest, least recognized groups includes families living week to week, and sometimes year to year, in extended stay hotels. A new countywide assessment documents who are being missed, why they are there, and what it means for policy, planning, and prevention.
A hidden population in plain sight
Our report finds that extended stay hotels are functioning as long term housing for thousands of residents, including many children. Using systematic hotel identification, door to door enumeration, and a structured household survey, the study estimates 2,004 households and 4,664 individuals living in extended stay hotels countywide, including 1,635 children under 18.
Why hotel living often gets overlooked
Extended stay hotels sit in a gray area between hospitality and residential life. For families, they can become a de facto home, even when the room is overcrowded, the rules are restrictive, and the risk of sudden displacement is constant. The report explains how many households living in hotels are excluded from standard homelessness definitions and, as a result, are frequently absent from the very datasets that drive funding and decision-making.
It also underscores what “invisible” can look like in daily life: children trying to keep up with school while moving from hotel to hotel, parents balancing work and caregiving without a stable address, and families navigating high costs with few tenant like rights.
County level extended stay hotel population estimates
A core contribution of the study is a countywide estimate grounded in on the ground enumeration. Our reports note that families with children in hotels represent a population far larger than what local point in time counts capture, and it highlights that hotel based child homelessness can appear much higher than school system identification alone suggests.
In practical terms, these estimates give local leaders something they rarely have: a baseline that can be used to plan services, understand geographic concentration, and track whether interventions reduce the flow of families into hotel living over time.
Characteristics of families living in extended stay hotels
The report emphasizes that for many families, hotels are not a brief stop. They are home, often because the barriers to moving into a lease are steep. Survey findings describe common pathways into hotel living such as eviction and rent increases, alongside shocks like job loss, family conflict, or domestic violence.
It also documents the economics of this housing arrangement. Families can be paying rates comparable to, or higher than, typical rents for a small apartment, while still being required to pay up front fees, security deposits, or weekly schedules that make it hard to save. The report highlights severe cost burden as a defining feature of hotel living, with many households spending the majority of their income on the room.
Beyond cost, the hotel environment itself shapes family stability. The report describes constraints that affect safety, privacy, and a child’s ability to rest and learn. Even when parents are working, the system can keep families stuck because it offers no clear path to permanent housing.
What changes when you can finally see the full picture
When a large population is missing from official counts, the ripple effects are predictable:
Planning underestimates need, especially for family focused services
Prevention strategies miss a major pressure point, eviction driven moves into hotels
Schools, health systems, and child welfare partners absorb impacts without coordinated data
Resources and accountability measures do not reflect the reality on the ground
