Mayor Daniel Lurie announced Tuesday morning that San Francisco has recorded its lowest count of unsheltered residents in 15 years.

The Point in Time Count in January found a 22% decline in people living on the streets, in their cars, or other public spaces, from 4,354 in 2024 to 3,400 in 2026. It’s the lowest number since 2011, according to Lurie.

The overall drop in the homeless population, which includes those in shelters, was smaller. Volunteers and city workers recorded 7,973 homeless people during the count, which is conducted every two years. That’s 4% fewer (opens in new tab) than the 2024 count of 8,323. 

“Today, San Franciscans feel like our city is on the right track again,” Lurie said. “That’s not an accident.”

But the numbers come with an asterisk. This year’s count used a new methodology — different hours, different rules, different interactions required with each person tallied — and homeless advocates say this made for a chaotic survey that cannot be meaningfully compared with previous years.

A worrying trend that Lurie acknowledged was the 15% increase in the number of homeless families in this year’s tally — similar to shifts seen at the state and national level, he said. On the flip side, homelessness among 18- to 24-year-olds was down 54%, and homelessness among veterans dropped 44%.

The apparent progress comes as the city has increased the number of sweeps that target people living in tents on sidewalks and in RVs. Indeed, the count found an 85% drop in people living in tents.

“That does not signify success in sheltering or housing those individuals,” said Lukas Illa, an organizer with the Coalition on Homelessness. “The decline in observed tents just speaks to the fact we have taken away those folks’ survival gear.”

Homeless advocates claim the changes to the methodology were politically motivated and would be used to illegitimately tout progress on the issue. Over the past 20 years, the number of homeless people in San Francisco obtained from these counts had steadily climbed.

“This count was completely different than any count done previously,” Illa said. “It is hard to compare the two.” 

But the mayor’s representatives argue the new methodology is better. In the past, the surveyors visually surmised whether an individual was homeless; this year, verbal interactions were required to cut down on misidentification. Additionally, the count was conducted between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., rather than 8 p.m. to midnight, as in years past. 

“We feel very confident about the integrity of the count,” said Kunal Modi, Lurie’s chief of health and human services. 

Lurie said his administration has implemented sweeping changes to tackle homelessness, such as the recent opening of the RESET Center to help people with drug addiction, the 2025 opening of the crisis stabilization center at 822 Geary Blvd., and the reorganization of street outreach teams. Outreach workers may no longer give out supplies for smoking fentanyl without also connecting users to counseling or treatment.

The results released Tuesday were preliminary; a full report is expected in the summer.