Homelessness in Los Angeles drops for 2nd straight year
'Deep collaboration, focused emergency response, and innovative programming caused homelessness to decline by 4.0% in LA County and 3.4% in the City of LA,' the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority said Monday.
The count, conducted Feb. 18-20, found more than 72,000 homeless people in the county and almost 44,000 in the city, down from 2023's highs of 75,518 and 46,260, respectively.
'It's official: The annual homeless count in Los Angeles shows a consecutive year decrease for the first time. Ever,' L.A. Mayor Karen Bass said on social media. 'On day one, I declared a state of emergency to reject the old way of doing things. Now, we've turned the page. We will not stop working urgently to save lives.'
This year's reductions of 4% and 3.4% for county and city, respectively, are significantly larger than last year's reductions of 0.3% and 2.2%.
'When I first came to LAHSA, I said we'd reduce unsheltered homelessness in three years,' said LAHSA CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum. 'We did it in one and cemented it in two. By bringing innovative solutions, system change, and working arm in arm with our partners over the last two years, LAHSA has helped move people inside with the urgency this humanitarian crisis demands.'
Kellum, who is transitioning out of her LAHSA role, added that 'we can also see clearly that our work isn't done' in an apparent message to local leaders, her colleagues and eventual successor.
'It's crucial we keep moving forward, together, to sustain our reductions in unsheltered homelessness,' she said.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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