Los Angeles’ homeless population has declined slightly after five years of steady growth, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) announced Friday.
There were 75,312 homeless people in Los Angeles County, according to data collected during the annual survey from Jan. 24 to Jan. 26. That figure is 0.27% lower than the 75,518 reported in 2023.
In the city of Los Angeles, there were 45,252 homeless people in 2020, compared to 46,260 in 2023, a 2.2% decrease.
The number of unsheltered homeless people in the city and county has declined: The city’s street homelessness dropped 10.7 percent, while the county’s unsheltered homelessness dropped 5.1 percent, according to the report.
Los Angeles officials touted the slight decline, saying “unprecedented policy coordination and investments” by the city, county, state and federal governments were helping people find housing.
The Los Angeles area had seen a steady rise in homelessness until this year, after more than 52,000 people were reported to have lost their homes across the county in 2018.
Paul Rubenstein, LAHSAS’s vice president of external relations, said the agency is “cautiously optimistic about the direction of homelessness across Los Angeles County” as plans to move more people into permanent housing move forward.
Mayor Karen Bass said the drop in homeless numbers is mainly due to the “new direction” the city is taking.
“Los Angeles is proof that there are lasting solutions to end the cycle of homelessness,” Bass said in a statement. “If we accept the reality, set politics aside, and work together, there is nothing we can’t do.”
Los Angeles County Council President and Supervisor Lindsay Holbert called the latest numbers “a validation, not a victory,” and said the city and county “must continue to act with urgency at every level of government and in every community.”