California's unsheltered homeless population declined for a second consecutive year, according to preliminary 2026 Point-in-Time count results released Oct. 28 by Gov. 's office.
Thirty-seven of the state's 44 Continuums of Care, the regional bodies that run the counts, conducted new unsheltered counts this year. Those 37 regions held nearly 90% of California's reported unsheltered population in 2025, and together they recorded a decline of about 7.3% from their most recent prior counts, taken in 2024 or 2025, the governor's office said.
To produce a statewide estimate, the state combined the new counts with the last reported unsheltered counts from the seven regions that did not count this year, the same practice the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development uses. By that measure, unsheltered homelessness is down 6.5% and total homelessness is down 3.4% from reported 2025 figures, the office said.
The office said the estimated unsheltered population is now slightly below its 2019 level, the year Newsom took office. From 2024 to 2026, the preliminary estimates show unsheltered homelessness down 12.8% and total homelessness down 6%. The office said it is the first time since 2013-14 that both measures have fallen in back-to-back years.
HUD-confirmed 2025 data show California's unsheltered homelessness fell 6.77% that year, compared with a 2.88% decline nationwide, and California's numerical decline was the largest of any state, according to the release.
“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,” Newsom said in the release.
The governor's office credited state money for shelter and housing, behavioral health treatment funded in part by Proposition 1, changes to conservatorship law, the CARE Court program and encampment cleanups. It said Proposition 1 bonds, once fully awarded, are expected to create at least 6,800 residential treatment beds and 26,700 outpatient treatment slots, and that Caltrans has removed more than 19,000 encampments from state right-of-way since 2021.
The figures are preliminary state estimates, and the release did not include the number of people counted. The federal government has not yet released its national 2026 Point-in-Time findings.
State
Gavin Newsom
Governor · Democrat
Named 4 times in this story.
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