Yes, homelessness in the United States fell sharply. The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced on November 6, 2026, that the latest nationwide count found 698,425 people homeless on a single night in January 2026. That is a drop of 6.3 percent from the year before, or roughly 49,000 fewer people. HUD called it the largest decrease in homelessness on record in American history. It is the second year in a row that the count has fallen, but nearly 700,000 people are still without stable housing, and the two sides in the debate give very different reasons for the improvement.
Quick Facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Announced by | US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) |
| Announcement date | Friday, November 6, 2026 |
| People counted homeless | 698,425 on a single night in January 2026 |
| Change from prior count | Down 6.3 percent, about 49,000 fewer people |
| Prior count | 745,652 in January 2025 |
| HUD description | Largest decrease in homelessness on record |
| Consecutive declines | Second year in a row, after a smaller drop of about 3 percent in 2025 |
| Previous peak | 2024 count was the highest since HUD standardized its method in 2007 |
| HUD Secretary | Scott Turner |
| Detailed report | Not yet posted at the time of the announcement |
| Los Angeles County | 73,040 homeless in 2026, up 1.2 percent |
| City of Los Angeles | 45,194 homeless in 2026, up 3.4 percent |
What HUD Announced
The announcement came in a short press release from HUD on Friday, November 6, 2026. The department said the 2026 nationwide Point-in-Time count found 698,425 people homeless on a single night in January. The count is carried out each year by communities across the country, and it is the federal government’s main yardstick for measuring homelessness.
HUD described the result in the strongest possible terms. The release called it the largest decrease in homelessness on record in American history, a fall of 6.3 percent since the prior count. The department said the drop followed historic border control and a Supreme Court victory that confirmed the right of local governments to limit dangerous encampments.
Homelessness had climbed for years and reached a record high in the 2024 count, the highest since HUD standardized its method in 2007. The 2025 count was the first year-over-year decline since 2016, a smaller fall of about 3 percent. The 2026 count is the second consecutive decline, and it is much larger than the first.
Even so, the headline number needs context. Nearly 700,000 people were still counted as homeless, living in shelters or on the streets. That total remains well above the levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. A large drop from a record high is still a large number of people without a home.
How Big the Drop Really Is
A fall of roughly 49,000 people in one year is striking. For years, the annual Point-in-Time total moved in one direction, up, and the increases were often large. The 2025 count of 745,652 was already a step down from the 2024 record, but the 2026 result of 698,425 is a much bigger step.
The change matters because it is the second decline in a row. One year of improvement can be a blip, but two years in a row, with the second much larger than the first, looks more like a trend. That is why both the administration and its critics are watching the reasons behind it closely.
HUD announced the headline figures in a press release, but the department had not yet posted the detailed report behind them. The full report will show state-by-state breakdowns, including chronic and unsheltered homelessness. Until that detail is public, it is hard to say where the decline happened and which groups it reached.
Two Very Different Explanations
The most argued part of this story is not the number itself. It is why the number fell. The Trump administration and homeless advocacy groups look at the same count and draw opposite conclusions.
HUD Secretary Scott Turner credited the administration’s own policies. In the department’s release, he pointed to border enforcement and removing people he described as criminal immigrants from the streets. He also pointed to the administration’s shift from the Housing First approach to what it calls Treatment First, an approach that puts addiction treatment and other services ahead of housing. HUD also credited a crackdown on homeless encampments after the Supreme Court ruled in 2024 that cities can ban people from sleeping and camping in public places. President Trump signed an executive order in July 2025 directing federal agencies to pursue the new approach and crack down on homelessness, crime, and disorder in public spaces.
The administration also framed the result as a break from the prior administration. HUD said that under the Biden administration’s Housing First mandate, homelessness increased 28 percent from 2022 to 2025. That figure is HUD’s own claim about the prior period, and it is part of the administration’s case that its policy change drove the improvement.
The National Alliance to End Homelessness sees it differently. The group commissioned an independent analysis of the same count, and that analysis reached a similar conclusion about the size of the decline. But its chief executive, Ann Oliva, credited funded housing programs that were already working, along with softening rental markets in some areas. In that view, the drop came from housing help and market conditions, not from enforcement and encampment crackdowns.
Both sides agree on the size of the fall. They disagree on what caused it. The detailed report, when HUD posts it, may help settle part of that argument by showing where the decline was largest and who benefited. Until then, the cause of the largest drop on record remains a matter of dispute.
Los Angeles Bucks the Trend
Not every place followed the national pattern. California’s biggest city moved in the opposite direction, which shows how uneven the national picture can be.
Los Angeles County recorded an estimated 73,040 homeless residents in 2026, a rise of 1.2 percent, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The city of Los Angeles itself saw its homeless population jump 3.4 percent to 45,194. Those local figures came from the same counting season, and they run directly against the national trend.
The Los Angeles numbers matter for two reasons. First, the county holds a large share of the national total, so a rise there takes some shine off a national fall. Second, the city has been a central test case in the debate over homelessness policy, and its numbers will be cited by both sides. The administration’s critics will point to Los Angeles as proof that enforcement alone does not fix the problem. Its supporters will point to the city as proof that the old approach failed.
The contrast also underlines a basic fact about the national count. It is a sum of thousands of local counts, and local results vary widely. A national decline can hide local increases, just as a national increase can hide local success stories. For more on the leadership change in Los Angeles, read Nithya Raman Defeats Karen Bass to Become Los Angeles First Asian American Mayor, and for the wider California picture, read Governor Races 2026: Texas Flips Blue as Georgia, California and New York Stay Democratic.
What the Count Does and Does Not Measure
The Point-in-Time count is a single-night snapshot. On one night each January, communities across the country count the people they can find in shelters, in transitional housing, and on the streets. The method is the same every year, which makes year-to-year comparisons fair. But a snapshot is not a full picture.
The count does not capture everyone who lacks stable housing. People who are couch surfing with friends or family, living in cars in places that are hard to reach, or staying in some forms of taxpayer-funded housing assistance may not be counted. Experts who study homelessness have long warned that the true number of people without stable housing is larger than the Point-in-Time total.
That limit cuts both ways. The 698,425 figure is best read as a floor, not a ceiling, and the 6.3 percent decline is a change in the counted population. The detailed report should show how chronic and unsheltered homelessness changed, but that detail was not public when HUD announced the headline numbers.
What to Watch Next
The next step is the detailed report. HUD had not posted it when it announced the headline figures, and the breakdown will matter. Watch for the state-by-state numbers, the change in chronic homelessness, and the change in unsheltered homelessness. Those details will show whether the decline was broad or concentrated in a few places.
Watch Los Angeles and other large cities, too. If more big cities report increases while the national total falls, the debate over cause will sharpen. The administration is using the decline to argue for its Treatment First approach and its encampment crackdown, while advocacy groups are using the same numbers to argue for more funded housing programs.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people are homeless in the United States now?
The latest federal count found 698,425 people homeless on a single night in January 2026. That is down 6.3 percent from the January 2025 count of 745,652, or roughly 49,000 fewer people. Nearly 700,000 people are still without stable housing.
Is this really the largest drop in homelessness on record?
That is what HUD said when it announced the figures on November 6, 2026. The department called it the largest decrease in homelessness on record in American history. It is also the second consecutive annual decline, after a smaller drop of about 3 percent in the 2025 count.
Why did homelessness fall?
The cause is disputed. The Trump administration credits border enforcement, its shift from Housing First to Treatment First, and a crackdown on encampments after the Supreme Court’s 2024 ruling. The National Alliance to End Homelessness credits funded housing programs and softening rental markets. Both sides agree on the size of the decline but not on the reason.
Did homelessness fall everywhere?
No. Los Angeles County reported 73,040 homeless residents in 2026, up 1.2 percent, and the city of Los Angeles reported 45,194, up 3.4 percent. The national total fell, but some large cities moved in the opposite direction.
Sources
Final Thoughts
The headline is good news, and it should not be buried under the argument about why it happened. About 49,000 fewer people were counted as homeless in the latest federal count, the largest drop on record, and the second year in a row the total has fallen. That is real progress after years in which the number climbed to record highs.
But nearly 700,000 people are still without stable housing, well above pre-pandemic levels, and Los Angeles moved the wrong way. The detailed report that would show where the decline happened and who it reached was not yet public. Until it arrives, the size of the drop is settled and the reason for it is not, and the next count will test whether this was the start of a lasting turn or a one-time fall from a record high.
