A second consecutive annual survey in the Los Angeles area showed a drop in the number of people experiencing homelessness, according to data released Monday.
The 2025 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count by the LA Homeless Services Authority reported a 4% decrease in the number of unhoused residents countywide, and the city of Los Angeles showed a 3.4% decline.
The combined total of people experiencing sheltered and unsheltered homelessness was 72,308 in LA County, with 43,699 in the city of Los Angeles.
Unsheltered homelessness in the county decreased 9.5% compared with 2024 and has dropped 14% since 2023, data shows. An 8.5% increase of people living unsheltered who moved into shelters and other forms of temporary housing.
The county’s unsheltered homeless population totaled 47,413 people.
In the city of LA, unsheltered homelessness decreased 7.9%, according to the 2025 count data, and it has decreased 17.5% over the last two years. The city’s lower unsheltered numbers — 26,972 people — accompanied a 4.7% increase in unsheltered individuals finding temporary housing.
“Homelessness has gone down two years in a row because we chose to act with urgency and reject the broken status quo of leaving people on the street until housing was built,” LA Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. “These results aren’t just data points — they represent thousands of human beings who are now inside, and neighborhoods that are beginning to heal.
“This Point in Time Count makes one thing clear: change is possible when we refuse to accept encampments as normal and refuse to leave people behind,” Bass said, adding that her “commitment to confront this crisis head-on is stronger and more urgent than ever.”
The 2025 point-in-time count took place Feb. 18, 19 and 20 after a postponement in January because of wildfires that devastated large areas of LA County and city. Thousands of volunteers fanned out across the county to conduct the survey.
LAHSA, which is a city-county joint agency, credited initiatives such as the city’s Inside Safe and county’s Pathway Home for the drop in unsheltered homelessness. Agency officials also noted a rise in the number of permanent housing placements to a record of 27,994 last year.
Despite the two-year downtrend, 485,000 more affordable units are needed to meet the LA region’s housing, LAHSA cautioned.
LAHSA was established in 1993, but the county has opted to defund the agency and create its own department to address homelessness.
County Supervisors Lindsey Horvath, Kathryn Barger and Hilda Solis hailed the homeless count results but said more work remains to address the crisis.
Barger attributed the encouraging data to “three key components: sustained investments in housing and services, strong partnerships with our local cities and service providers, and a focused approach to encampment resolution — such as through the county’s Pathway Home program, which helps transition individuals directly from encampments into shelter and care.
“At the same time, the count is a sobering reminder of the work that lies ahead,” Barger said in a statement. “The fact remains that 72,308 individuals are still experiencing homelessness in our county is heartbreaking. Each person counted represents a life in crisis. They must remain at the center of our housing, outreach and support service strategies.”
Horvath said, “We can, and must, do more. At this pace, it would take three centuries to end homelessness in Los Angeles County. Every day, seven lives are being lost on our streets — an unacceptable reality that demands bold, coordinated action,” she said in a statement.
Solis said in a statement that cities in her district “are stepping up in partnership to support their unhoused neighbors, contributing to a continued decline in homelessness throughout the San Gabriel Valley. Montebello and Baldwin Park have established tiny home villages. Pomona welcomed the Hope for Home Shelter, and El Monte used the state of California’s Homekey program to purchase two hotels, expanding long-term housing options for those in need.”
In 2019, homelessness in LA County totaled 58,936 people, with the city of Los Angeles accounting for 35,550. In the ensuing years, homelessness increased dramatically regionwide from increasingly scarce affordable housing and the COVID-19 pandemic. Homelessness peaked in 2023 when LAHSA reported 75,518 people experiencing homelessness in the county and 46,260 in the city.
Last year’s slight decrease marked a shift from the steady increases. LAHSA’s count showed 75,312 homeless people in the county and 45,252 in the city.
Across the region, 2025 saw a 12.6% decrease in various encampments on streets — people living in cars, vans, recreational vehicles, tents or other makeshift shelters.
The city of LA also saw a reduction in temporary street encampments of roughly 13.5%. In 2024, LAHSA’s count showed 12,717 encampments compared with 11,010 street dwellings this year.
The 2025 count data is available online at lahsa.org/news?article=1043-homeless-count-2025-data-summaries.
