California Homelessness Falls for Second Straight Year: Preliminary 2026 Data Show Unsheltered Count Down Nearly 13% Since 2024, Slightly Below 2019 Levels
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced in Sacramento on October 28 that preliminary 2026 Point-in-Time data show unsheltered homelessness in California has declined for the second consecutive year, down nearly 13% since 2024, with the estimated unsheltered population now slightly below 2019 levels, when Newsom took office. Both unsheltered and total homelessness have fallen two years in a row, the first back-to-back declines in more than a decade.
The Governor's Office said the preliminary results include updated unsheltered counts from the 37 Continuum of Care regions that took part in this year's unsheltered Point-in-Time count. Those 37 regions accounted for nearly 90% of California's reported unsheltered population in 2025, and within them unsheltered homelessness declined 7.3% from their most recent prior counts, conducted in 2024 or 2025. Across all 44 regions statewide, preliminary estimates show unsheltered homelessness down 6.5% and total homelessness down 3.4% from reported 2025 figures; over the two years from 2024 to 2026, preliminary statewide estimates show unsheltered homelessness falling 12.8% and total homelessness declining 6%. The state released its preliminary 2026 results ahead of the federal government's national 2026 Point-in-Time findings, as it did earlier this year with the 2025 data.
Federal figures provide the national comparison: according to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-confirmed 2025 data, California's unsheltered homelessness declined 6.77% in 2025, more than twice the national decline of 2.88%, and California's numerical decline was the largest of any state. The Governor's Office said the numerical declines in both 2025 and 2026 are the two largest since 2009, and that from 2019 to 2025 unsheltered homelessness rose 26% nationwide while California's increase was just one-quarter of the national rate, at 6.6%, outperforming 44 other states; the additional 2026 reductions now put the state's unsheltered population slightly below 2019 levels.
"California is proving that homelessness is not inevitable. We're making progress because we're building housing, expanding treatment and shelter, and holding ourselves and local governments accountable. We're not backing down — and we're not done," Newsom said.
The Governor's Office also listed recent policies: Proposition 1, approved by voters in 2024, is expected, when its bond funding is fully awarded, to create at least 6,800 residential treatment beds and 26,700 outpatient behavioral-health treatment slots; conservatorship laws have been updated for the first time in 50 years and a new CARE Court system created; and a $77 million investment from California's cap-and-invest program supports the expansion and redevelopment of the Jordan Downs Project in Los Angeles, the largest public housing project in the region. The Governor's Office said Newsom's SAFE Task Force, announced in 2025, has addressed encampments in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Sacramento and Fresno, connecting dozens of people with shelter, and that since 2021 Caltrans has removed more than 19,000 encampments on state right-of-way and collected approximately 354,000 cubic yards of litter and debris.
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Related: Governor Newsom to Announce Prop 1 Update on October 30 After Record Drops in Homelessness
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：加州州长 Gavin Newsom（2025年9月摄于 London）。英国唐宁街10号摄，英国政府开放许可证 OGL v3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons，本站裁切为横幅。 / Photo: California Governor Gavin Newsom (London, September 2025). By No. 10 Downing Street, Open Government Licence v3.0, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped to banner format.
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