Polling Shows Indiana Wants Action on Homelessness
Recent national polling reveals strong bipartisan support for action on homelessness in Indiana.
New polling from the Cicero Institute shows that Hoosiers are ready for action on homelessness. There is bipartisan awareness (54 percent) that homelessness is increasing in the state.
Only eight percent of voters across the political spectrum believe it is more compassionate to let people camp where they choose than to move them to shelters.
Similarly, a majority of voters (54 percent) believe Indiana should prohibit camping in public spaces. A majority (56 percent) also supports requiring major cities such as Indianapolis to enforce bans on street camping as a condition of receiving increased funding for homelessness programs.
Read the full results below.
POLL RESULTS
1. Do you think homelessness in Indiana is increasing, decreasing, or staying about the same?
2. How often do you avoid going into areas where there are homeless individuals sleeping in public places such as city parks or sidewalks?
3. How often do you avoid gas stations or convenience stores where there are aggressive panhandlers?
4. How much of a danger do you think camping on sidewalks or in city parks poses to the public?
5. Which of the following do you think is the biggest root cause of chronic homelessness, mental illness and addiction, or lack of affordable housing and jobs?
6. Do you think it is more compassionate to allow homeless individuals to set up camp wherever they choose or to move them into shelters?
7. Over the last 10 years, Indiana has directed most of its homelessness spending toward long-term housing projects rather than programs that meet immediate needs. Would you support or oppose directing more of the state’s homelessness spending toward supportive programs that meet immediate needs, such as mental health and addiction treatment programs?
8. The number of homeless individuals sleeping on the streets in Indiana has more than doubled over the last five years. Knowing this, how much more likely would you be to support directing more state homelessness spending toward treatment programs?
9. Should Indiana prohibit camping in public spaces, such as sidewalks and city parks?
10. The number of homeless individuals with severe mental illness who are sleeping outside has nearly tripled over the last 10 years. Knowing this, how much more likely would you be to support ending street camping?
11. The number of homeless individuals struggling with chronic addictions who are sleeping outside has more than tripled over the last ten years. Knowing this, how much more likely would you be to support ending street camping?
12. Recent research shows that nearly one out of every five homeless individuals living on the street are on Indiana’s sex offender registry list. Knowing this, how much more likely would you be to support ending street camping?
13. Would you support or oppose requiring major cities such as Indianapolis to enforce bans on street camping as a condition of receiving increased funding for homelessness programs?
Results for this poll were collected using a sampling frame that gathered responses from 808 likely Indiana voters during live calls, online panels, and automated telephone interviews conducted by Cor Strategies, Inc.
The survey was conducted February 11–14, 2025. The margin of sampling error is ±3.45 percentage points. The margin of sampling error may be higher or lower for subgroups. Results presented may not always appear to total 100 percent due to rounding.
Data were post-stratified using weighted demographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey Voting and Registration Supplement and the state election authorities.
Demographic information for actual voters in past elections was used to construct sample target weights.
Cicero Institute paid for all costs associated with this survey.