For the second year in a row, homelessness has dropped both in LA County and the City of LA

For the past two years, the number of homeless people in Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles has decreased. On Monday afternoon, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass announced the findings behind the city and county’s 2025 Homeless Count, a regional snapshot of how many homeless people live in the streets of L.A.

L.A. County experienced a 4% decrease in unhoused people and a 3.4% drop in the City of L.A., according to the data released today. 

In last year’s count, LAHSA, the joint city-county organization that oversees funding and programming to address the homelessness crisis, recorded 75,312 homeless people in the county, with 45,252 of them in the city.

Last year was also a very significant one, as it was the first year when homelessness numbers both in the city and county had slightly declined. This year, the drop continued, with a further drop to 72,308 homeless people in the county, with about 43,669 of them in the city.

“Reducing homelessness is now a trend,” Va Lecia Adams Kellum, chief executive officer of LAHSA, said. 

Despite the decline in numbers, Kellum talked about how people of color are still disproportionately represented among the homeless population. 

According to this year’s findings, Latinos remain the largest ethnic group experiencing homelessness in the region, with 46% of homeless people identifying as Latino. Black people also make up an alarming number (29.2%) of homeless people. 

“We have a lot more to do, but the fact of the matter is everybody that is here today is committed to making sure that we do whatever is necessary until we end homelessness, period,” Bass said. “For the first time in our city's recent history, homelessness has gone down two years in a row according to the annual point-in-time count.”

Unsheltered homelessness across L.A. County has dropped by 9.5%  and is down 14% over the last two years. Meanwhile, the number of people entering interim housing or shelters rose by 8.5% in 2025. In the City of L.A., unsheltered homelessness also dropped by 7.9% and is down 17.5% since 2023. In 2025, the number of people in shelters in the city also rose by 4.7%.

Bass also shared in the press conference that as she was on her way there, Governor Gavin Newsom called her to congratulate her and the city for “moving the needle forward.”

“These results are more than data points; they represent thousands of human beings who are now inside, lives that have been saved and neighborhoods that are beginning to heal. Oftentimes, we don't talk about the consequences of street homelessness, but it's about business owners who can now welcome back customers through their front doors, children who can walk safely to school, and the families who can again use their neighborhood parks to play in,” she said. 

This year's 2025 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count was conducted from February 18 to 20, after it was postponed in January due to the L.A. wildfires. The count is made possible through the work of volunteers who meet in different locations around the county and tally the number of people living in the streets or their cars. 

The count is a yearly requirement from the United States Housing and Urban Development, which reviews and validates the data.     

For more information on the 2025 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, click here.