California’s unsheltered homelessness falls for second straight year, preliminary data show

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced preliminary 2026 data showing that unsheltered homelessness in California has declined for the second consecutive year, down nearly 13% since 2024. The preliminary figures show unsheltered homelessness fell about 7.3% across 37 reporting Continuum of Care communities. According to the governor’s office, both total and unsheltered homelessness have declined for two consecutive years, the first time California has reached that milestone in more than a decade.

Across all 44 regions statewide, the preliminary estimates show unsheltered homelessness down 6.5% and total homelessness down 3.4% compared with reported 2025 figures. To estimate the statewide unsheltered count, the analysis follows the same practice as the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It combines the 37 new counts with the most recent unsheltered counts from the seven regions that did not conduct a new count this year. Over the two years from 2024 to 2026, the estimates show unsheltered homelessness falling 12.8% and total homelessness declining 6%.

The governor’s office said the statewide unsheltered estimate is now slightly below 2019 levels, when Newsom took office. The state announced its preliminary results before the federal government released its national 2026 Point-in-Time findings. Earlier this year, federal officials confirmed California’s 2025 reductions in unsheltered homelessness, months after such figures would normally have been announced.

The office also compared California with national figures. HUD-confirmed 2025 data show California’s unsheltered homelessness declined 6.77% in 2025, compared with a 2.88% decline nationwide. From 2019 to 2025, the office reported, unsheltered homelessness rose 26% nationwide, while California’s increase was 6.6%. These comparisons come from the governor’s announcement and draw on the federal data cited in it.

Newsom’s office attributed the results to the state’s efforts to create more housing and shelter, expand behavioral health treatment, direct resources to local communities, strengthen accountability, and connect people living in dangerous encampments with shelter and care. The governor said in the announcement, “California is proving that homelessness is not inevitable.” Among the examples cited, the state said it is providing funding and programs for local governments, paired with accountability measures, so that people in encampments have a safe place to go (Psalm 82:3). Through a $77 million investment from California’s cap-and-invest program, Los Angeles announced the expansion and redevelopment of the Jordan Downs Project, the largest public housing project in the region.

On mental health, the announcement said voters approved Proposition 1 in 2024 and that, when fully awarded, its bond funding is estimated to create at least 6,800 residential treatment beds and 26,700 outpatient treatment slots. The state also said it updated conservatorship laws for the first time in 50 years to include people who cannot provide for their personal safety or necessary medical care due to severe substance use disorder or serious mental illness. It further described a CARE Court system that creates court-administered plans for up to 24 months for people struggling with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, often with substance use challenges.

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