LA County homeless count released for first time since 2020

The number of unhoused people in Los Angeles County has increased by 4.1% since 2020, according to the latest point-in-time tally released Thursday by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

In the city of Los Angeles, the figure is up 1.7% from 2020. The count tallied 69,144 homeless people in the county and 41,980 in the city.

The count, which took place from Feb. 22-24, is an annual, mandated means for LAHSA to obtain an accurate count of the number of unhoused people in the county.This year’s count was the county’s first since 2020, as last year’s was canceled when LAHSA determined it was not safe to gather 8,000 volunteers amid stay-at-home orders and curfews due to COVID-19. The county received an exemption from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and was not required to conduct a 2021 count.

The count may have been affected by the Omicron surge, especially the youth count with many youth centers closed, LAHSA officials said.

According to the 2020 count, the county’s homeless population increased by 12.7% over the previous year, while the city of Los Angeles’ homeless population jumped by 14.2%.