Los Angeles street homelessness increased by nearly 8% citywide, data from a January count revealed, dealing a political setback to Mayor Karen Bass as she runs for re-election. Meanwhile, Housing and Homelessness Committee Chair Nithya Raman reported a 49% drop in unsheltered homelessness within her own district.
The latest figures from the Greater LA Homelessness Count, released on Friday, July 23, 2026, confirmed that the region’s unsheltered population has ticked upward after two consecutive years of reported declines. The city of Los Angeles now counts approximately 45,194 unhoused residents, a 3.4% rise from the previous year. Among them, people living unsheltered on streets, in encampments, or inside vehicles climbed by 7.9%.
Diverging Realities: District 4 Versus the Rest of Los Angeles
The release of the citywide data created an immediate political clash between Mayor Karen Bass and her challenger in the upcoming election, City Councilmember Nithya Raman. While overall figures worsened across the municipality, Raman held a press conference to highlight a starkly different trajectory in her district, which extends from Los Feliz and Silver Lake into Studio City, Sherman Oaks, and other parts of the San Fernando Valley.
Raman pointed to a 49% decrease in unsheltered homelessness in her district, attributing the contrast to an intensive local strategy. Our office takes the most aggressive interventionist approach to homelessness you will find in Los Angeles,
Raman said, noting that her team tracks encampments on a map, stays familiar with unhoused residents by name, and works to ensure empty shelter beds are filled promptly.
That localized success placed Raman in a politically delicate position. As chair of the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, she oversees legislative policy for the entire municipality, drawing sharp questions about why citywide numbers moved in the opposite direction. Raman deflected responsibility for the broader totals, drawing a line between legislative oversight and executive execution.
Bass Defends Record and Blames Higher Levels of Government
Mayor Bass defended her administration’s record by pointing to external economic pressures and significant funding reductions from state and federal authorities. She argued that her signature Inside Safe program—which has moved more than 6,000 people into interim housing options like motels and hotels since she took office in December 2022—proved effective before funding contractions stalled momentum.
Bass pointed directly to federal decisions under the administration of President Donald Trump, asserting that policies drove up the cost of everyday necessities while slashing safety net programs. According to the mayor, federal housing assistance dropped by 50% last year, stripping the city of $70 million.
For two years straight, we drove down homelessness by historic margins – but as expected, last year our efforts ultimately couldn’t keep up with policies and funding cuts at the federal and state levels that pushed more people onto the streets.
City Council Chair
The Inside Safe Debate and Scrutiny Over LAHSA
The political fallout quickly drew in campaign operatives. Alex Stack, a spokesperson for Bass’ campaign, asserted that Raman’s district-level success relied heavily on the very city programs her campaign criticizes. Nithya Raman is taking credit for the results of Inside Safe while campaigning against it,
Stack said in a statement published by the Los Angeles Times.
Meanwhile, the broader administrative apparatus faced renewed criticism from multiple corners. Both Bass and agency leaders pointed to systemic breakdowns within the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA). Bass noted that scathing audits and court findings had exposed deep accountability issues. The money wasn’t tracked, providers went unpaid, and public trust eroded,
Bass said in her statement, adding that she would not defend a broken system and that the city must build a more transparent, results-driven framework.
Subsidies, Suburbs, and Regional Disparities
LAHSA Interim CEO Gita O’Neill pointed to broader economic hardships and cost-of-living pressures as primary drivers behind the stalled progress. Paul Rubenstein, LAHSA’s chief of staff, explained that a drop in administrative data tracking showed a specific structural bottleneck: the expiration and reduction of funding for time-limited subsidies, which provide short-term rental assistance.
Regional numbers also revealed striking contrasts outside city limits. While the broader Los Angeles County saw a modest 1.2% rise in total homelessness to roughly 73,000 people, the county’s unsheltered population actually decreased, highlighting a divergence between city and county trends.
What Lies Ahead in the Mayoral Race
With the election approaching, the newly released data ensures that homelessness will remain a central issue.
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