Sacramento's point-in-time count shows a 13% increase in homeless people since 2024
Sacramento's latest point-in-time count report was released on Wednesday, showing more people are homeless than a couple of years ago.
The point-in-time count happens every other year when volunteers, for one night, attempt to count every single person experiencing homelessness in the county.
While there may be more homeless people, the report finds that more people are seeking help.
More than 7,400 people are experiencing homelessness on a given night, when the count was conducted in January. That's a 13% increase from the last count two years ago.
"Any kind of point-in-time count, especially in Sacramento, is an estimate," said Trent Simmons, the chief implementation officer for Sacramento Steps Forward.
With 900 square miles to search, volunteers can't count everyone. But the report also found that about 4,000 people were living unsheltered, while more than 3,200 people were staying in shelters or transitional housing.
Officials say sheltered homelessness rose by 22%, which they attribute to more beds and better access to services.
"Most of the change from 2024 to 2026 actually showed up in the portion of that count in our shelter," Simmons said. "About 70% of the delta between 2024 and 2026 was actually from people in shelter."
"The 13% increase over 2024 numbers, and I think that is trending in what we've experienced here," said Angela Hassell, the executive director of Sacramento Loaves and Fishes.
Hassell said the numbers for 2024's report seemed to be too low, given the number of people they serve.
"I've been the executive director for five years and in that time we've seen an average of roughly 10,000 individuals a year," Hassell said.
The report suggests that more unhoused people are dispersed across the county than in previous counts. Hassell believes that could be the result of encampment-sweeping-inforcements since 2024.