Long Beach’s unhoused population rose by 6.5% in the past year, with 3,595 people identified as experiencing homelessness during the City’s 2025 Point in Time (PIT) Count on Jan. 23.
The City of Long Beach usually holds a virtual and in-person press conference going over the details of the annual PIT Count, but this year’s findings were held in a media roundtable and were not streamed to the public.
People identified during the count experiencing homelessness for the first time rose from 53.6% in 2024 to 57.6% in 2025, accounting for 2,067 people. Those who have been homeless for a year or longer dropped from 48.8% of people identified in the count in 2024 to 46.8% in 2025, making up a total of 1,678 people. Of the individuals found in the count, 16% said they became homeless within the last year, a slight increase from last year’s 14.3%.
A little over 1,500 people were placed into permanent housing in the last year through City-run and partnering organizations, according to the PIT.
Financial hardship and unemployment was identified as the reason 41.2% of people found were experiencing homelessness, a 4% increase from last year. Other reasons included:
- A disruption in familial relationships (28.1%)
- Eviction (16%)
- Mental health (15.3%)
- Disability (11%)
- Substance abuse (9.5%)
Among people who became homeless within the last year, 56.8% said they lost their housing in Long Beach, while 26.7% of people became homeless in Los Angeles and 6.2% became homeless in Orange County. According to the City’s report, 167 people identified said they were displaced due to the LA Wildfires, which started a week prior to the count.
Sheltered vs. Unsheltered
A majority of people identified in the count were living without any shelter, meaning they’re sleeping either in tents, in their cars or on the streets. People experiencing homelessness with shelter are either in temporary or emergency housing, or sleeping in a bed at a shelter at night. In total, 2,606 people, or 72.4% of people experiencing homelessness in Long Beach, are doing so without shelter.
This means only 989 homeless people identified in January, or 27.5%, had some sort of shelter. Additionally, there were 1,598 people living without any shelter including a car.
Among the 1,678 people experiencing chronic homelessness, 1,201 are without shelter (71.6%), while only 477 people experiencing chronic homelessness have shelter (28.4%).
People living in their cars or Recreational Vehicles (RVs) made up 38.7% of unsheltered homeless people in 2025, or 1,008 people.
Long Beach currently has 1,357 shelter beds each night, 359 of which are run by the City.
Demographics
Seniors ages 55 and older saw a slight decrease in Long Beach’s homeless population, with 1,023 seniors identified in January, down from 1,245 in 2024. All other age groups saw increases in homelessness, with people ages 35-44 making up the majority of people experiencing homelessness, at 1,042.
Youth ages 0-24 saw a 62% increase in this year’s PIT count, with 103 people last year and 167 this year. Of the youth interviewed, the City found that:
- 31% are former foster youth
- 25.8% are students
- 58% are survivors of trauma or abuse
- 53.3% are struggling with mental health issues
- 10% are part of the LGBTQ community
People identifying as male continue to make up the majority of those experiencing homelessness in Long Beach, while the transgender population experiencing homelessness decreased by 19%, from 129 last year to 104 this year.
Black people continue to be the largest racial demographic of people experiencing homelessness in Long Beach, with a 10% increase in the last year. The white population accounts for the second largest group experiencing homelessness, and Latino people the third most.
Races identified in the 2025 Homelessness PIT Count are:
- 34% Black people
- 24% white people
- 23.5% Latino people
- 10.8% identified as “other”
- 3.7% Asian or Pacific Islander people
- 1.6% Indigenous people
A more than 50% increase in people becoming homeless due to domestic violence can be accounted for by requiring less sensitive information about one’s circumstances, according to the City’s report. As a result, 10.5% of people said they became homeless after fleeing from domestic violence, compared to 4.4% last year.
Veterans now make up 9.6% of all people identified during the homelessness PIT count, a decrease from last year’s 11.3%. People identifying as LGBTQ and experiencing homelessness decreased from 7.7% of Long Beach’s homeless population to 7.5%, or 269 people.
Students experiencing homelessness in the city saw a decrease from 6.6% to 5.5%, with 197 students identified.
Underlying conditions that may have contributed to someone becoming or remaining homeless were found among those interviewed:
- 32.9% of people (1182) had a physical disability
- 34.5% of people (1,240) had a severe mental illness
- 30.8% of people (1,107) had a chronic medical condition
- 25.7% of people (923) struggle with substance abuse
- 17.4% of people (625) had a brain injury
- 17.3% of people (621) had a developmental disability
Read the City’s full PIT Count report here.
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