Sacramento County’s top official says 2024 homeless count was ‘artificially low’
Sacramento County’s top executive joined the chorus of skeptics Tuesday about a 2024 report that found Sacramento’s homeless population had dropped 29% since 2022.
“I believe the (Point in Time) count was artificially low last time and I do not think there’s going to be a reduction,” County Executive David Villanueva said during the Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.
The federally mandated biannual count had been increasing each year in Sacramento, hitting a peak of nearly 9,300 in 2022, before dropping to about 6,600 in 2024. Calculated by Simtech Solutions rather than Sacramento State researchers as it had in the past, the figure has drawn skepticism, as camps remain along sidewalks, underpasses and levees throughout the county.
Last year, skepticism grew when the nonprofit that organizes the count, Sacramento Steps Forward, released data showing that nearly 9,000 people were experiencing homelessness in Sacramento. That figure is based on a database tracking homeless people who recently spoke with outreach workers. That estimate, as of February, remains unchanged.
The 9,000 figure also aligned with data from nonprofit Loaves & Fishes, which serves 9,000 to 10,000 unduplicated individuals each year, according to executive director Angela Hassell.
The number for the 2026 PIT count will arrive soon. During two nights in January, volunteers spread out across the county to count the homeless. Simtech’s report is due in June.
If the PIT count is higher than in 2024, as Villanueva told supervisors, it will clash with Mayor Kevin McCarty’s announcement during his February State of the City address that downtown homelessness was down 70% since 2023.
That figure was based on counts by the Downtown Partnership, the nonprofit 66-block improvement district that represents downtown businesses.
The discussion about the PIT count came Tuesday after criticism from Chair Rosario Rodriguez, the supervisor for the county’s northeastern communities, including Folsom, Orangevale, Antelope and Elverta.
“I actually have never met anyone who has confidence in information from the PIT count,” Rodriguez said during the meeting.
83 hours a week
The discussion about the count occurred during an update on homeless shelters and services from county staff.
According to new data from the National Low Income Housing Coalition, minimum-wage workers in Sacramento would need to work 83 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom apartment, Emily Halcon, the county’s homeless services and housing director told the board.
The statistic highlights the difficulty local officials are facing in helping the homeless find housing, Halcon said. While there are other barriers, such as people suffering from mental health crises or substance use, most would move into permanent housing if it existed.
“I do believe if we could walk up to folks and say, ‘we’ve got a housing unit ready for you, let’s go,’ you’d see that (homeless population) reduced,” said Halcon, who has been at the county since 2020 and has a staff of 29 employees.
About 82% of the occupants of Sacramento County’s shelters have an annual income of less than $20,000, and the vast majority have no income, Halcon said, citing data she had pulled earlier that day.
Many of those people do not need intensive services, but just need an apartment with a rent they can afford on Social Security or minimum wage jobs, she said.
A severe shortage of affordable housing units has caused many people to get stuck in shelters long term, even when they are ready for a unit.
“The average length of stay in our shelters is about nine months ... six or seven years ago it was like 60 days,” Halcon said.
Supervisor Rich Desmond asked what the county is looking to reduce the cost per person. On average the county and city pay $126,315 per shelter bed, according to a previous Sacramento Bee story.
The Watt Avenue shelter, the most expensive shelter planned in the capital region, was set to open in early 2026 but is not yet completed.
The site will shelter up to 275 people in sleeping cabins and in their vehicles, and provide weather respite for 75, in North Highlands. The county paid about $64 million total to stand it up, including about $42 million to construction companies to turn the former office building and parking lot into a shelter. It also spent $22.8 million to buy a vacant warehouse, which had sold for just over half that amount just a year before the county bought it.
“It’ll be four years pretty soon and to me that just seems like a really long time for about 300 people and the cost was very high,” Rodriguez said.
Villanueva said staff has been working expeditiously.
“I agree the pace could be better on a lot of things,” Villanueva said. “It’s not from a lack of effort on the staff side to get these moving ASAP.”
This story was originally published April 8, 2026 at 3:32 PM.
