<p>The association between recent and past homelessness with health-related quality of life (HRQOL) was examined using data from a nationally representative sample of US adults. Those who reported recent (past-year, but not current) and past (prior to past-year) homelessness were compared to those who were never homeless using measures of mental and physical HRQOL and Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) based on items from the SF-12 and derived EQ-5D utility values. Adults experiencing recent homelessness reported a much lower mental HRQOL score while those with past homelessness reported a moderately lower score than those with no history of homelessness. Physical health scores for the recent and past homelessness groups were moderately reduced, and reductions in QALYs were most marked for those with recent homelessness. After adjustment for potentially confounding factors, differences between the three groups on all measures of HRQOL were markedly diminished. Thus, recent and past homelessness were associated with considerably reduced HRQOL, but mediating factors such as sociodemographic characteristics, and physical and mental comorbidities, seemed to explain nearly all of this reduction in HRQOL among those who had experienced homelessness.</p>