The city of Los Angeles has experienced an increase in homelessness in 2026, marking a setback after two years of declines. According to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the population of people living outdoors in the city grew by 7.9% between early 2026 and 2026. This rise includes those living in vehicles, tents, or homeless shelters, totaling 45,194 individuals.

The 4%, while the county saw a slight rise of 1.2%, reaching 73,040 individuals. Unsheltered homelessness rose by 3.3% countywide. Despite these increases, LAHSA noted that the upticks are within the count’s margin of error and not considered “statistically significant.”

The Impact on Local Leadership

This setback is particularly challenging for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who has made addressing homelessness a top priority since taking office at the end of 2026. Bass, who is campaigning for reelection against City Councilmember Nithya Raman, has frequently cited prior declines in homeless counts as evidence of her approach’s effectiveness. However, the latest count has raised questions about the city’s strategies.

Mayor Bass acknowledged the increase in homelessness before the official release of the count, responding to a report by Fox 11 that cited anonymous sources. She blamed the rise on state funding cuts and federal policy changes that she said worsened the affordability crisis. “For two years straight, we drove down homelessness by historic margins — but as expected, last year our efforts ultimately couldn’t keep up with policies and funding cuts at the federal and state levels that pushed more people onto the streets,” Bass said in a statement.

Local Officials React to the Data

Local officials expressed frustration over the results. L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn stated, “It felt like we had turned a corner these past few years and this latest count feels like a setback.” Councilmember Nithya Raman, who has chaired the city council’s homelessness committee for the last several years and is running for mayor against Bass, added, “These results make clear that the Mayor’s approach is not working well enough.”

The latest count took place in January of this year, following a delay due to the wildfires. The city’s unsheltered population grew to about 29,000, after previously dropping a total of 17.5% across the first two years of counts in Bass’ mayoral term. Meanwhile, the city’s sheltered population declined to around 16,000 at the time of the count.

The Broader Context of Homelessness in Los Angeles

Los Angeles has long been at the center of the U.S. homelessness crisis. The city’s unhoused population began surging about a decade ago, years before the national count did. The crisis peaked in L.A. in 2026, with 1 in 83 city residents experiencing homelessness at a single point in time that year. Nationwide, the unhoused population count continued climbing for another year, reaching a record high in 2026 of 1 in 435 U.S. residents.

Despite the increase in homelessness, Los Angeles has significantly increased its spending on the crisis. Voters in the city and county have repeatedly approved tax measures related to homelessness, adding billions of public dollars aimed at the crisis. Together, Measure H, Measure ULA, and Measure A have increased city and county resources by about $6 billion. That’s on top of Measure HHH, a $1.2 billion bond voters approved in 2016 to build supportive housing.

The city of Los Angeles budgeted about $139 million a year to address homelessness in 2016. By 2026, the city’s annual homelessness budget has grown to nearly $1 billion, alongside growing L.A. County homelessness dollars. Funding for LAHSA, a joint city-county homelessness agency, grew ten-fold since 2016 to more than $800 million.

Officials and experts have attributed much of L.A.’s homelessness to a housing affordability crisis in which rent has become more unaffordable to people making very low incomes. L.A.’s expanded shelter system has not kept pace with the number of people falling into homelessness. LAHSA says the number of newly unhoused people seeking services each year has grown 30% between 2026 and 2026.

While in office, Bass has pursued a “housing first” strategy focused on relocating unhoused people from tent and RV encampments into hotel rooms and other shelter settings. That approach, which includes Bass’ signature Inside Safe program, helped move thousands of tents and people off the street and into hotel rooms, but costs three times as much as other shelter options, according to a city analysis.

About 41% of the people who’ve participated in the program since it began have returned to homelessness, according to LAHSA’s Inside Safe data dashboard. Bass defends the program, but has said it needs to reduce costs. L.A. City and county leaders expanded the L.A. homelessness response system primarily by adding fast, short-term solutions like emergency shelter beds and temporary rental subsidies. They lagged behind, in comparison, on permanent supportive housing, service providers said.

The number of people permanently housed by the system declined from about 28,600 in 2026 to 25,532 last year, according to data provided by LAHSA Friday. Placements into shelter and permanent supportive housing went down this year, while the number of people returning to the streets after being in shelter went up.

Family homelessness decreased by 14%, according to LAHSA’s data, but the agency said that likely reflects a recent decline in the supply of family resources, not demand. LAHSA also broke findings down by region. The Metro LA and East L.A. areas each saw their unsheltered populations rise by about 20%, the agency found. In the Antelope Valley, unsheltered homelessness dropped 37%.