2026 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count successfully wraps up

Over 99% of volunteer recorded data was captured digitally.

Today, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) announced the successful completion of the three-night volunteer portion of the 2026 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count. During the three nights of the unsheltered count, more than 5,000 signed up to volunteer for this effort. The strong volunteer response and more efficient deployment strategies led to approximately half as many make-up tracts as in 2025. Volunteers experienced a smoother counting app experience with no major technical issues reported over the three nights.

"Over the last three nights, we saw thousands of people all over LA County come together to count their unhoused neighbors. I was inspired by the dedication of our community to addressing homelessness," said Gita O'Neill, interim CEO of LAHSA. "On behalf of the entire team at LAHSA, I want to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone who came out to help us this week."

Last night, the number of registered volunteers for all three nights of the Homeless Count surpassed 5,000, exceeding its initial volunteer ask by approximately 19%.

LAHSA's enhancements to improve the volunteer experience and ensure the Count ran smoothly reduced the number of make-up counts by about 36%. Outreach teams from across Los Angeles County will conduct the make-up counts over the next few days.

2026 marked the fourth year LAHSA used a digital app to capture volunteer observations. This year, volunteers experienced no major disruptions with the app, and LAHSA staff were available to help with individual challenges as they arose. Overall, over 99% of this year's volunteer observations were captured digitally.

In the weeks to come, LAHSA will turn over the Homeless Count data to its partners at the University of Southern California. USC will combine the unsheltered count data with the sheltered count and youth count to calculate the Homeless Count estimate.

LAHSA plans to release the results of the 2026 Homeless Count in late spring or early summer 2026.

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