The total number of unhoused people in Los Angeles dropped slightly following five years of steady rises in the count, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) announced Friday.
Based on the data collected through the annual point-in-time survey from Jan. 24 through Jan. 26, there were 75,312 homeless people in LA County. That figure is 0.27% less than 2023 when 75,518 were reported unhoused.
In the city of Los Angeles, there was a bigger decrease of 2.2% with 45,252 unhoused people compared to 46,260 in 2023.
Among the unhouse people, there are fewer people who are not sheltered in both the city and county. As the report noted street homelessness went down 10.7% in the city, unsheltered homelessness decreased 5.1% in the county.
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LA officials touted the slight decrease, saying “unprecedented policy alignment and investments'' made by the city, county, state and federal governments” are helping people find housing.
Until this year, the LA region had witnessed a steady climb in the number of homelessness since 2018 when more than 52,000 people were reported unhoused across the county.
Paul Rubenstein, LAHSAS’s deputy chief of external relations, said officials are “cautiously optimistic about the direction of homelessness across LA County” amid more plans to move people into permanent housing.
Mayor Karen Bass said the dip in the homeless count was possible largely due to a “new direction” the city has taken.
“Los Angeles is proving there are PERMANENT solutions to breaking the cycle of homelessness,” Bass said in a statement. “There is nothing we cannot do by taking on the status quo, putting politics aside, and rolling up our sleeves to work together.”
Los Angeles County Board Chair and Supervisor Lindsey Horvath called the latest numbers “validation, not victory,” saying the city and county “must continue to move with urgency across all levels of government and in every community.”
