Long Beach released the results of its 2026 Point in Time (PIT) Count on Monday, revealing a 3% uptick in people experiencing homelessness in the city compared to 2025.
There were 3,729 people experiencing homelessness in the early hours of Jan. 22, when the PIT Count was conducted. This was an increase of 134 people compared to last year, though the city did see a 15.4% increase in people staying in shelters.
The amount of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness was 69.4% of the total people counted. This number went from 72.5% in 2025 to 69.4%, while the percentage of people staying in shelters increased from 27.5% to 30.6%.
Around 30% of people who were unsheltered during the count were living in their car, with 783 people identified.
Unemployment and housing affordability remain the most common reasons why people in Long Beach said they are experiencing homelessness, with 40% of people saying financial issues and unemployment were the causing factor.
Slightly less than half (49.1%) of people experiencing homelessness reported losing their housing in Long Beach before experiencing homelessness, while 50.9% lost housing outside the city. Among people newly (in the last year) experiencing homelessness, an even larger proportion (61.9%) reported losing housing outside Long Beach, compared with 38.1% who lost housing within the city.
Specifically in Los Angeles County, nearly six in 10 renter households are considered rent-burdened, meaning more than 30% of their income is spent on rent, according to the University of Southern California’s Lusk Center for Real Estate’s SOLACHAN 2025 analysis.
The main factors people said caused them to become homeless in Long Beach are as follows:
- Finance/Unemployment: 40.4%
- Family Disruption: 29%
- Mental Health: 20.4%
- Eviction: 15.5%
- Physical Disability: 13.3%
- Substance Use: 12%
The percentage of people newly experiencing homelessness, defined as people in their first episode of homelessness lasting less than one year, increased from 10.9% in 2025 to 12.4% in 2026.
The percentage of people experiencing chronic homelessness increased from 46.7% in 2025 to 58% in 2026. Chronic homelessness refers to people who have experienced homelessness continuously for at least one year or through repeated episodes over an extended period.
The 2026 count identified an 11.7% decrease in the number of youth under age 18 experiencing homelessness compared with 2025, with nine fewer youth identified. All youth under the age of 18 identified during the 2026 count were staying in a sheltered setting, meaning no children or youth under 18 were found experiencing unsheltered homelessness on the night of the count.
Demographics
Most people identified during the PIT Count identified as male, with 2,518 men counted (67.5%) and 1,174 women counted (31.5%). There were also 58 transgender or gender non-conforming people (2.6%) identified during the count.
The racial/ethnic background of those identified on the day of the count is as follows:
- Black/African American: 1,013 (32.5%)
- Latinx/Hispanic: 880 (28.2%)
- White: 794 (25.5%)
- Other: 145 (4.7%)
- Asian American & Pacific Islander: 120 (3.8%)
- Multiple Races: 117 (3.8%)
- Native American/Alaska Native: 48 (1.5%)
There was a slight decrease in the number of veterans experiencing homelessness in Long Beach, down from 346 to 319. Those who were homeless and identified as LGBTQ+ grew from 7.5% of total people to 9.3%.
Long Beach’s Homelessness Services
There are currently more than 80 service providers included in the Long Beach Continuum of Care, which is a network of programs designed to help people overcome homelessness at every level.
Long Beach also increased its shelter inventory from 1,357 beds in early 2025 to 1,521 beds by the end of last year, a 12.1% increase. In 2025, the City also expanded interim housing capacity through projects that added 90 new shelter beds, including Homekey at 5950 and the Youth Shelter and Navigation Center.
Long Beach also launched Upstream LB, a homelessness prevention initiative focused on helping residents remain stably housed.
Upstream LB pillars include:
- Encampment Resolution Funding efforts along the Los Angeles Riverbed, which are currently providing interim housing and permanent housing pathways for participants experiencing homelessness.
- The Long Beach Renter Aid Program, which provides short-term financial assistance to low-income renters experiencing financial hardship and risk of housing loss.
- The Older Adult Shallow Subsidy Program, which provides medium-term rental assistance to low-income older adults in Long Beach who are extremely rent burdened.
- The Right to Counsel Program, delivered through the regional Stay Housed LA initiative, provides legal services, tenant education and outreach to help low-income renters facing eviction remain stably housed.
- The Youth Homelessness Prevention Unit, launching in early fall 2026, will provide proactive homelessness prevention services for transition-age youth (ages 18 to 25) who are at high risk of homelessness.
