Annual Homeless Counts Underway in Major Californian Cities

Federally mandated counts aim to estimate unhoused populations and their needs, influencing federal funding allocation.

The annual Point-in-Time Count of homeless populations is underway in several major California cities, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
The count is a federally mandated effort to estimate the number of unhoused individuals and their needs, which helps determine the allocation of federal homeless relief funding.
In 2023, Los Angeles County reported over 75,500 homeless individuals, a 9% increase from the previous year, while San Diego County reported a 14% increase with 10,264 individuals.
San Francisco's last count in 2022 reported 7,754 homeless individuals, a 3.5% drop from three years earlier, with a significant rise in the number of those who were sheltered at the time of the count.
The results of the 2024 count are expected to be released in late spring or early summer.