Homelessness in California

In January 2024 at least 187,084 people were experiencing homelessness in California, according to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.^: 8 This is 0.48% of California's population, one of the highest per capita rates in the nation.^: 8

California has the highest percentage of unsheltered homeless people among all U.S. states, with two-thirds of its homeless population sleeping on the streets, in encampments, or in their cars.^: 8 Nearly one in four homeless people in the U.S., and 45% of unsheltered homeless people, live in California. Even those who are sheltered are so insecurely: 90% of homeless adults in California spent at least one night without shelter in a six-month period.^: 53

A statewide housing shortage drives the homelessness crisis. A 2022 study found that differences in per capita homelessness rates across the United States are not due to differing rates of mental illness, drug addiction, or poverty, but to differences in the cost of housing. West Coast cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego have homelessness rates five times as high as areas with much lower housing costs like Arkansas, West Virginia, and Detroit, even though the latter locations have high burdens of opioid addiction and poverty. California has the second lowest number of housing units per capita, and an estimated shortage of one million homes that are affordable to the lowest income renters. Another 2022 study found that moderate decreases in rents would significantly reduce homelessness. A 2023 study published by the University of California, San Francisco also found that the high cost of housing was the greatest obstacle to reducing homelessness.