Sacramento volunteers to begin 2026 homelessness countywide survey
Sacramento will launch its 2026 homeless count with a thousand volunteers beginning to survey the region Monday.
Scheduled for every two years, the Point-in-Time Count is conducted by volunteers, who canvas the 994 square miles of the Sacramento County over two consecutive nights, to record the number and demographics of residents experiencing homelessness. Volunteers will meet at Scottish Rite Masonic Center in River Park at 4:30 p.m. before starting 2026’s count. The volunteers will fan out across the county and conduct the count between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m.
The Point-in-Time Count is led by Sacramento Steps Forward, a nonprofit that oversees regional homeless services. Last year, Sacramento Steps Forward estimated nearly 9,000 people are homeless in Sacramento County.
In 2024, the Point-in-Time Count estimated 6,615 people were experiencing homelessness and living in shelters or on the street, which was a 29% dip from the previous count. In 2022, the Point-in-Time count found nearly 9,300 were homeless.
Kim Winters, the director of communications for Sacramento Steps Forward, wrote that the homelessness count is shared with the public and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The number figures into the calculation for how much federal and state funding the region receives to combat the homelessness crisis.
“The PIT Count provides a snapshot of individuals and families living outdoors or in places not meant for human habitation on a single night,” Winters wrote in a news release. “(...) The data helps local, state, and federal leaders evaluate progress, identify gaps, and design more effective strategies to prevent and resolve homelessness.”
Lisa Bates, the chief executive officer of Sacramento Steps Forward, wrote that volunteers are in charge of providing an accurate count that will “guide funding decisions, improve programs, and advance solutions that help people move indoors and into stability.”
“The Point-in-Time Count is one of the most important ways we listen to our neighbors who are experiencing life without stable housing,” Bates said in the news release.
Sacramento County was awarded $40.5 million in HUD funding in 2024, which went to permanent housing programs that assisted 2,100 people, according to the news release from Sacramento Steps Forward.
This story was originally published January 26, 2026 at 12:33 PM.
