Startling numbers provide a snapshot of the homelessness crisis in Sacramento
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Homelessness: Sacramento’s Urgent Human Crisis
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Startling numbers provide a snapshot of the homelessness crisis in Sacramento
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Sacramento’s homeless crisis has rapidly grown in recent years, and in July it hit a grim milestone — more homeless people than San Francisco.
A federally-mandated count in February 2022 found that there are an estimated 9,930 homeless people in Sacramento on any given night — higher than San Francisco’s 7,754. San Francisco still has more homeless people per capita, but Sacramento’s homeless crisis has tripled since 2017, according to the count.
Since that year, contrary to popular belief, unhoused people have consistently told The Sacramento Bee they are desperate for housing. Many have jobs. Most are from here.
In recent years The Bee has reported on a couple who both have jobs at an auto parts store and still don’t make enough for an apartment for themselves and their small children, so they live in an RV, constantly fearing the city will tow it. The Bee also reported on a mother who has been on a waiting list for a Section 8 housing voucher for 13 years, and a beloved father who died of hypothermia last winter.
Each person has their own story, but the numbers can provide a snapshot of the crisis our community faces.
Who are the unhoused of Sacramento?
9,278: Number of homeless people in Sacramento County, including its cities, as of January 2022, according to the federally-mandated point in time count. This number has surged from 5,570 in January 2019, and 3,665 in January 2017. The next count will occur in January 2024.
20,000: The number of people in Sacramento who were expected to experience homelessness at some point in 2022, according to the report.
1,600: Number of unsanctioned tents volunteers counted in Sacramento in January 2022 — five times higher than the number they counted in 2019.
48%: Number of homeless respondents to the 2022 count said the need for affordable housing was the “primary problem Sacramento needs to confront,” according to a report that accompanied the count.
84%: The number of homeless respondents who said their last housing was located in the Sacramento region.
What’s being done to help the homeless?
Roughly 1,100: Number of shelter beds the city has open, all of which are typically full.
Roughly 1,200: Number of shelter beds the county has open, all of which are typically full.
2: Number of Safe Ground sanctioned tent camping sites the city has opened. At those locations, people are still in tents or vehicles but have access to bathrooms, showers, drinking water, security and help finding housing. One is located at Miller Park and the other is Camp Resolution in North Sacramento.
2: Number of large tent-like so-called Sprung shelters the city has opened. The structures contain beds, heating and cooling. People who stay there receive services including help finding housing.
430: Number of tiny homes the county is planning to open for the homeless this summer in North Highlands and south Sacramento.
350: Number of tiny homes Gov. Gavin Newsom is sending Sacramento to place at Cal Expo for the homeless by fall.
How have we fallen short?
At least 230: Number of homeless people who died in Sacramento in 2021 of all causes.
8: Number of homeless people who died from hypothermia in 2021.
At least 3: Number of homeless people whom the coroner has determined have died from hypothermia so far since Nov. 1, 2022.
420: Number of families with children that were homeless during the February 2022 count. That included 745 children under the age of 18.
3: Number of homeless shelters the city and county have closed since 2018. They include the Railroad Drive large shelter in North Sacramento, the Capitol Park shelter downtown, and a Project Roomkey hotel in North Sacramento’s Woodlake neighborhood.
This story was originally published May 18, 2023 at 10:22 AM.
