Sacramento: California has recorded one of the largest annual declines in homelessness, as revealed by a report from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. In 2025, the state’s unhoused population was noted at 181,934, showing a reduction of nearly 3% from the previous year. This places California among the top five states with the most significant reductions since 2024.
According to Anadolu Agency, larger decreases were observed in Illinois with a 44% fall, Hawaii with a 41% drop, Florida with an 11% decline, and New York with an 8% decrease. These figures indicate progress for Governor Gavin Newsom, who has implemented a more proactive approach to tackling homelessness. In May 2025, Newsom introduced a model ordinance to aid cities and counties in addressing persistent encampments and announced $3.3 billion in voter-approved funding aimed at expanding housing and substance use treatment programs.
Despite the decrease, California and New York still have the country’s largest unsheltered homeless populations as of 2025. Homelessness remains a significant issue in California’s political landscape, affecting the governor’s race and the Los Angeles mayoral contest. The report also highlighted a nationwide drop in homelessness for the first time since 2016, with a 3% decrease from 2024.
The Trump administration, however, minimized the importance of this one-year decline, instead highlighting an overall 27% rise in homelessness since 2013. HUD Secretary Scott Turner stated that the data indicated the ‘Housing First’ approach had not significantly reduced homelessness and had contributed to crisis-level street homelessness. He mentioned that HUD was shifting its programs toward recovery, self-sufficiency, and ensuring publicly funded benefits support American families.
The administration also linked the 2025 decline to its immigration policies, attributing the decrease partly to reductions in so-called sanctuary cities. The numbers are based on the federally required point-in-time count, documenting people in shelters or sleeping outdoors on a single night. In January 2025, the count found 745,652 people experiencing homelessness across the US.
Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, stated, “So much of the progress reflected in the 2025 PIT Count is due to targeted housing and service resources available in 2024 to rehouse people, including the successful Emergency Housing Voucher program, and new funds to address rural and unsheltered homelessness.” Oliva criticized the Trump Administration for deprioritizing these tools and attempting to dismantle the systems that led to these reductions. She noted the administration’s proposed cuts to permanent housing programs, which the organization believes would “force at least 170,000 formerly homeless people back on the streets.”