California sees sharpest drop in homelessness in years

California recorded one of the sharpest year-over-year declines in homelessness in the nation, according to the 2025 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The state's unhoused population fell to 181,934—an nearly 3% reduction from the previous year. The data places California among the top five states achieving the largest absolute reductions in homelessness since 2024. Even more substantial percentage drops were documented in Illinois (down 44%), Hawaii (down 41%), Florida (down 11%), and New York (down 8%), News.Az reports, citing Anadolu Agency.

The downward trend represents a critical milestone for California Governor Gavin Newsom, who faces intense political pressure over the state’s housing crisis. Over the past year, Newsom pivotally intensified local enforcement by introducing a model ordinance in May 2025 aimed at clearing persistent street encampments. His administration also deployed $3.3 billion in voter-approved funding specifically tailored to scale up long-term housing options and behavioral substance use treatment infrastructure. Despite these hard-fought gains, California and New York still maintain the highest overall numbers of unsheltered individuals in the United States.

On a national level, the data revealed a 3% drop in the unhoused population since 2024—marking the first nationwide decline in homelessness since 2016. A total of 745,652 people were recorded experiencing homelessness during the federal point-in-time tally conducted on a single night in January 2025.

The Trump administration downplayed the significance of the single-year drop, choosing instead to focus on long-term data showing a 27% baseline increase in homelessness since 2013. HUD Secretary Scott Turner stated that the statistics prove the long-standing "Housing First" approach has fundamentally failed to resolve crisis-level street homelessness. Secretary Turner announced that HUD is actively shifting federal resources away from unconditional housing programs, redirecting the agency's primary focus toward mandatory addiction recovery, self-sufficiency, and traditional family aid. Additionally, the administration attributed the national decrease to stricter border and federal immigration policies, claiming the numbers dropped primarily due to population declines within designated sanctuary cities.

Housing advocacy organizations heavily contested the administration's policy framing. Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, warned that the positive momentum seen in the 2025 data stems directly from highly successful 2024 federal initiatives, such as the Emergency Housing Voucher program and dedicated rural outreach funds. Advocates caution that the current administration's proposed cuts to permanent housing programs could reverse these fragile gains, potentially forcing up to 170,000 formally rehoused people back onto the streets.

News.Az 

By Aysel Mammadzada