California reports one of largest drops in homelessness in past year, Hud reports | California
California reported one of the largest declines in homelessness last year, according to a new report. report From the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (Hud).
The Golden State recorded a total homeless population of 181,934 in 2025; It was among the five states with the largest declines from 2024, with a drop of almost 3% from the previous year. But more significant declines were recorded in Illinois (44%), Hawaii (41%), Florida (11%) and New York (8%).
New data suggests California governor Gavin Newsom, who intensified his crackdown on homelessness last year, is having at least some success. Made a new announcement in May 2025 model regulation Provide $3.3 billion in voter-approved funding for cities and counties to address “permanent” homeless encampments as well as increase housing and drug treatment programs.
California, along with New York, had the largest recorded population of unsheltered people in 2025. Homelessness has been a major issue in this year’s governor’s race and the Los Angeles mayoral race.
The data also showed that the national homeless population decreased for the first time since 2016, marking a 3 percent decline by 2024. The Trump administration has tried to downplay the small one-year decline, instead highlighting the fact that homelessness has increased 27 percent since 2013.
“The data shows that the ‘housing first’ status quo is failing to meaningfully reduce homelessness, leading to crisis levels of people living on the streets,” Hud secretary Scott Turner said. he said a press release. “HUD is restoring programs to advance recovery and self-sufficiency and ensure taxpayer-funded benefits serve American families.”
While the administration has sought to downplay the decline in homelessness, it has also attempted to attribute the success to immigration policies, noting that the decline in 2025 “is attributable to reductions in Sanctuary Cities.”
The data comes from the federally mandated point-in-time census of homeless people, which counts people sleeping in shelters and outside on a given day. On a single night in January 2025, there were 745,652 homeless people in the United States.
While anti-homelessness advocates called the decline in homelessness a “relief,” they also noted that the Trump administration’s policies could erode the progress made.
“Much of the progress reflected in the 2025 PIT Count comes from targeted housing and service resources available to rehouse people in 2024, including the highly successful Emergency Housing Voucher program, and new funding to address rural and unhoused homelessness,” said Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. expression.
“Unfortunately, the Trump Administration has largely deprioritized these tools and sought to dismantle the systems that caused these reductions.” Oliva noted the administration’s proposal to cut permanent housing programs. to create “will force at least 170,000 formerly homeless people back onto the streets”.
The government also compulsory treatment for federal housing voucher recipients and penal jurisdictions that implement harm reduction strategies such as safe consumption sites. In April 2026, Hud made a debut proposed rule This would require federally funded shelters to house potential tenants based solely on their birth gender.
