SF street homelessness lowest since 2015 amid overall rise

Homelessness in San Francisco increased 7% in the last two years , according to preliminary Point-In-Time Count data released Thursday by The City’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing.

The federally mandated count, which The City and other jurisdictions across the nation conduct every two years, tallies the number of unhoused people living on the street in tents, vehicles or other shelter on one particular night. San Francisco conducted its count Jan. 30 , recording 8,323 people that night compared with 7,754 in 2022.

The City counted 2,928 people who were chronically homeless, up 9% from 2022.

“We are working every day to move people off our streets and into shelter, housing, and care,” Mayor London Breed said Thursday. “This is safer and healthier for people on our streets, and it is better for all of us that want a cleaner and safer San Francisco.”

Breed announced the figures days before she formally kicks off her mayoral campaign, with homelessness one of the main issues likely to be considered by voters this November. Amid the increase in homelessness and The City’s ongoing housing crisis, San Francisco is required to build 82,000 additional homes by 2031 as part of its state-mandated Housing Element.

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing said 3,969 unhoused people were in shelters during the count, up 18% from 2022. Sheltered homeless residents made up 48% of the overall unhoused population, which the department said was higher than ever before.

“As we grapple with the repercussions of the housing crisis, it is crucial that we continue to invest in the city’s homelessness response system that includes programs to problem solve and prevent people from ever having to experience homelessness,” DHSH Executive Director Shireen McSpadden said in an emailed statement Thursday. “The Point in Time Count’s data will inform our programs and our mission to make homelessness rare, brief and one-time.”

Breed said The City recorded 2,912 people living in tents or structures, or on the streets — fewer than any year since 2015. The figure represented a 13% drop from 2022.

San Francisco also experienced a 37% increase from 2022 of unhoused residents living in vehicles, up to 1,442.

Family homelessness rose drastically from 2022, with the 437 families recorded this year a 94% increase. Ninety percent of the 143 unsheltered homeless families were living in vehicles.

Breed announced the formation of a new program called Safer Families earlier this week, which aims to address the growing number of homeless families in The City. The program would add 115 new emergency hotel-shelter slots and 215 new rapid-rehousing slots for homeless families, funding for which is included in the proposed budget slated to be submitted to the Board of Supervisors for review next month.

“We have unsheltered families, most of them living in vehicles across our city, and we need to move them into more stable shelter and housing so they can get on a path to safer, healthier situations,” Breed said Thursday. “This is about creating the opportunities to stabilize families, support our young people, and create stronger communities.”

San Francisco homelessness officials said Thursday that The City has expanded its options for both temporary shelter and long-term housing for those struggling with homelessness in the last six years. Shelter capacity has increased by 60% since 2018, and permanent supportive housing by 24%.

More than 15,000 people have been placed into housing since 2018, according to DHSH. While its housing-placement rate has doubled in the last five years, homelessness remains pervasive throughout The City.

The department said Thursday that “for every [one] person HSH resolves homelessness for annually, [three] people become homeless.”