Key details about homelessness in San Francisco

Every two years, cities and counties across the nation conduct a federally mandated, in-person count of homeless individuals on a single night in January or February. The survey – known as the PIT count – is a snapshot of homelessness, as it doesn’t capture all people who fell into homelessness throughout the year. It was canceled in 2021 due to the pandemic, but preliminary 2022 data became available earlier this year.

The data showed that after increasing quickly from less than 5,700 in 2013 to over 8,000 in 2019, the number of homeless individuals decreased slightly to 7,800 in 2022. The decline was largely attributed to the city’s huge investment in supportive housing over the last several years.