Half Of All Unsheltered Americans Live In CA, Federal Report Says

Homelessness is rising in California and across the country, according to a recent national report.

Roughly 653,100 people — about 20 of every 10,000 — were experiencing homelessness in the U.S. on a single night in 2023, a 12 percent increase over 2022 and the highest number since the report was first compiled in 2007, authorities said.

Of those experiencing homelessness nationally, 28 percent — or 181,399 — were in California, which had the highest percentage of the country’s unhoused residents, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. New York had the second-highest percentage with 16 percent or 103,200 people.

“Twenty-four percent of all people experiencing homelessness in the United States did so in either New York City or Los Angeles,” the report said.

Major urban and suburban areas nationwide with some of the largest numbers of people experiencing homelessness included Los Angeles County with 71,320; San Diego County with 10,264; Orange County with 6,050; San Bernardino County with 4,195; and Riverside County with 3,725.

California accounted for 49 percent of unsheltered people across the country at 123,423 — nearly eight times the number of unsheltered people in Florida, the state with the next-highest number. In five major areas, all in California, more than 70 percent of people experiencing homelessness were unsheltered: San Jose, Los Angeles, Oakland, Long Beach and Sacramento.

The state accounted nationally for half of all individuals in unsheltered locations, 36 percent of people in families who were unsheltered, 49 percent of unsheltered unaccompanied youth and 48 percent of unsheltered veterans.

“States in the West reported some of the highest percentages of all people experiencing homelessness in who were counted in unsheltered locations,” the report said. “In California, 68 percent of people experiencing homelessness did so outdoors.”

Warm weather may not be the only reason why. In a recent report, the Los Angeles Times detailed how several rulings from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals have led to increased legal scrutiny for public officials seeking to relocate unhoused people, regardless of local laws.

In 2006, the court rejected a Los Angeles ordinance and ruled that people experiencing homelessness could not be arrested only because they slept on the street, according to the Times. Lawyers say it is unclear if officials in California can remove a sidewalk encampment if the person refuses shelter, the newspaper reported.

The appellate decisions may be revisited by the Supreme Court as soon as the coming months, according to the Times.

At the national level, federal authorities attributed the recent spike in homelessness to American Rescue Plan resources expiring and challenging rental conditions.