The 2026 Point-in-Time Count shows a second straight annual decline, even as senior homelessness climbs and methodology questions persist.
By The Navarro Report Staff | San Diego Desk — August 5, 2026
San Diego County’s homeless population declined for a second consecutive year in 2026, according to the region’s annual Point-in-Time Count, continuing a modest but real downward trend. Yet the count’s own limitations continue to fuel debate over whether the official numbers adequately capture the scale of homelessness across the region.
The 2026 count, conducted in January by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, found 9,803 people experiencing homelessness countywide, down about 1 percent from 9,905 in 2025 and a steeper decline from 10,605 in 2024. Unsheltered homelessness fell 11 percent year-over-year even as sheltered homelessness rose 12 percent, a shift RTFH officials attribute to expanded investment in diversion programs, shelter capacity and encampment resolution efforts.
“This is what progress looks like,” RTFH CEO Tamera Kohler said of the results, while cautioning that the region still lacks sufficient permanent housing resources. “There are no more housing vouchers, and HUD funding is uncertain,” she said, noting that recent gains have come primarily from diversion and shelter investments rather than new permanent housing stock.
The count’s methodology, however, remains a persistent point of scrutiny. The Point-in-Time Count is a single-day, pre-dawn snapshot conducted by roughly 1,700 volunteers who fan out across more than 50 sites countywide, and researchers and advocates broadly regard it as a floor rather than a precise total. People sleeping in vehicles, a population that has grown substantially in areas like Carlsbad, are especially prone to undercounting because volunteers must rely on subtle visual cues, such as fogged or partially covered windows, to identify occupied vehicles at all.
One trend line largely immune to methodological debate is senior homelessness, which continued climbing this year. Older adults now make up 33 percent of the county’s unsheltered population, up from 29 percent a year earlier, and more than half of those seniors are experiencing homelessness for the first time. Advocates say the demographic shift demands targeted intervention distinct from strategies aimed at chronic or younger unsheltered populations.
The count’s results carry consequences beyond public perception. HUD uses Point-in-Time data to help allocate federal homelessness funding, meaning any undercount can directly constrain the resources available to address the very gaps critics say the methodology fails to capture. As San Diego jurisdictions continue expanding encampment cleanup programs and camping restrictions in cities such as Encinitas and Carlsbad, the accuracy of the count that shapes funding decisions is likely to remain as contested as the policies it informs.
Human-Directed AI Journalism — This article was researched and drafted with AI assistance under direct human editorial direction and review. The Navarro Report | navarro-report.com