Number of Persons Counted as Chronically Homeless, as Chronic Substance Users, as Severely Mentally Ill Continues to Increase Significantly for the Entire State of California and Within Each of the Largest Regions

A Homeless Count Comparison of Each Subpopulation for the Entire State,
Northern California, Central California, and Southern California is Detailed Below

HUD recently released the 2022 homeless count data

Click here for a pdf copy of this report

Chart 1 shows the following findings for the entire State of California

• The number of adults and children counted as chronically homeless was 34,332 in 2018 and 60,905 in 2022 representing an increase of 26,573 persons or 4%.
• The number of adults counted as chronic substance users was 22,475 in 2018 and 36,096 in 2022 representing an increase of 13,621 persons or 6%.
• The number of adults counted as severely mentally ill was 32,168 in 2018 and 39,721 in 2022 representing an increase of 7,553 persons or 5%.

Significant Increase of Adults and Children Counted as Chronically Homeless in Each Region

Table 1 shows that the number of adults and children counted as chronically homeless was significantly higher for each region in 2022 when compared to 2018.

Northern California

The number of adults and children counted as chronically homeless was 12,516 in 2018 and 20,358 in 2022 representing an increase of 7,842 persons or 62.7%. 

Central California

The number of adults and children counted as chronically homeless was 2,542 in 2018 and 3,792 in 2022 representing an increase of 1,250 persons or 49.2%.

Southern California

The number of adults and children counted as chronically homeless was 19,274 in 2018 and 36,755 in 2022 representing an increase of 17,481 persons or 90.7%.

Click here to see Appendix A, which compares the total number of adults and children counted as chronically homeless in 2018 to the total of adults and children counted as chronically homeless in 2022 and notes the difference for each Continuum of Care in each region.

Significant Increase of Adults Counted as Chronic Substance Users in Each Region

Table 2 shows that the number of adults counted as chronic substance users was significantly higher for each region in 2022 when compared to 2018.

Northern California

The number of adults counted as chronic substance users was 9,944 in 2018 and 11,737 in 2022 representing an increase of 1,793 persons or 18.0%.

Central California

The number of adults counted as chronic substance users was 1,819 in 2018 and 2,315 in 2022 representing an increase of 496 persons or 27.3%.

Southern California

The number of adults counted as chronic substance users was 10,712 in 2018 and 22,044 in 2022 representing an increase of 11,332 persons or 106%.

Click here to see Appendix B, which compares the total number of adults counted as chronic substance users in 2018 to the total of adults counted as chronic substance users in 2022 and notes the difference for each Continuum of Care in each region.

Significant Increase of Adults Counted as Severely Mentally Ill in Each Region 

Table 3 shows that the number of adults counted as severely mentally ill was significantly higher for each region in 2022 when compared to 2018.

Northern California

The number of adults counted as severely mentally ill was 13,894 in 2018 and 15,327 in 2022 representing an increase of 1,433 persons or 10.3%.

Central California

The number of adults counted as severely mentally ill was 1,880 in 2018 and 3,184 in 2022 representing an increase of 1,304 persons or 69.4%.

Southern California

The number of adults counted as severely mentally ill was 16,394 in 2018 and 21,210 in 2022 representing an increase of 4,816 persons or 29.4%.

Click here to see Appendix C, which compares the total number of adults counted as severely mentally ill in 2018 to the total of adults counted as severely mentally ill in 2022 and notes the difference for each Continuum of Care in each region.

This report is the second of three reports that Urban Initiatives will post concerning California’s 2022 homeless count results.

To see the first report, which focused on a comparison of the total number of adults and children counted as homeless for the entire state and each major region, click here.

The findings in this report help explain the latest increase in the total number of adults and children counted as homeless as described in the first report that noted a recent statewide increase of 6.2% and a comparison by major region—Northern California had a recent increase of 14.2% and Southern California 3.1%. Central California had a recent decrease of 2.9%.