Antonio Ray Harvey | California Black Media
SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today announced that unsheltered homelessness in San Francisco is at its lowest level in 15 years, according to preliminary data from the 2026 Point in Time (PIT) Count.
The data shows a significant decline in homelessness across San Francisco, with 1,000 fewer people on the street and unsheltered homelessness decreasing by 22% since the 2024 count—reaching the lowest level recorded since 2011—and the total number of people experiencing homelessness down 4% since 2024. The PIT Count also showed an 85% drop in people living in tents and structures, after the city recorded a record low number of tent encampments in March.
“When I took office, we set out to completely transform the city’s work around homelessness, drugs, and behavioral health—to get people off the street and on the path to stability. From the moment someone is experiencing homelessness to the day they enter long-term stable housing, we got to work with urgency, bringing accountability to a system that needed more of it,” said Mayor Lurie. “I’m proud to announce incredible progress: Unsheltered homelessness in San Francisco is down 22% to its lowest level in 15 years, the number of people in tents is down 85%, and homelessness is down overall. We have more work to do, but we will be relentless until every San Franciscan has the safe, clean streets they deserve.”
The significant progress in addressing homelessness follows more than a year of work under Mayor Lurie’s Breaking the Cycle plan to transform the city’s homelessness and behavioral health response—getting people off the street, into shelter and treatment, and on the path to stability. To help get people off the street, Mayor Lurie consolidated street outreach under the Department of Public Health (DPH) in April, building on initial steps last year that helped increase shelter placements by 40%. He also ended a policy that allowed for the distribution of fentanyl smoking supplies without connections to counseling or treatment. To get them into shelter and treatment, the city has stood up more than 600 new treatment-focused beds under Mayor Lurie’s leadership.
The city also opened a 24/7 police-friendly crisis stabilization center last year at 822 Geary Street, which has shown greater success at connecting people in crisis to care, and the RESET Center, which already started connecting people to treatment and recovery in its first week.
