San Jose sees 32% drop in unsheltered residents, according to data

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- San Jose officials say the city has reduced its unsheltered homeless population by 32% over the past 18 months, citing data from a new independently verified model designed to track changes in homelessness more frequently than traditional counts. City leaders said the reduction is part of an effort to end homeless encampments and expand housing alternatives. "In just the last 18 months, we have reduced the number of people living outside on our streets by 32%," Mayor Matt Mahan said. According to the city , the number of unsheltered residents declined from about 5,400 people in February 2025 to about 3,700 people in August 2026. MORE: Formerly unhoused San Jose Columbus Park residents adjusting to restrictions in new home Officials attributed the decrease to encampment cleanups, no re-encampment zones and emergency housing alternatives. Some residents told ABC7 Eyewitness News they have noticed fewer unhoused people in San Jose, particularly in areas such as Arena Green near the SAP Center. However, they said homelessness remains a significant issue. Unhoused advocate Shaunn Cartwright questioned the mayor's claims and the new measurement system. "You're o ut in the community every day. Does it seem like there's a 32% decrease?" ABC7 Eyewitness News reporter Dustin Dorsey asked her. MORE: San Jose's unhoused residents move out of encampment at Columbus Park into converted hotel "No. We also have an increase in deaths this year. We are on pace to meet last year's number of deaths, which was 160. And suddenly there's this new metric that's going to give the mayor a more favorable number," Cartwright said. Mahan said the figures are based on a new independently verified model that allows the city to measure changes in the unhoused population more often and with greater accuracy than traditional point-in-time counts. "Not once every two years, like the PIT count, but at least once every quarter in near real time so that we can adjust our solutions as we go and be truly data driven to end the humanitarian crisis we see every day," Mahan said. According to Mahan, the algorithm uses 15 different data points to estimate the number of unsheltered residents. MORE: San Jose removes over 100K pounds of trash from Columbus Park encampment cleanup He said the model estimated 1,500 more unsheltered individuals than the county's point-in-time count. Supporters of the approach said more frequent measurements could help policymakers better evaluate which strategies are working. "If we have a model like the new model that we've unveiled, and we can run updated numbers every 90 days, we'll start to see changes. And so we can start to develop better hypotheses, learn in near real time, and just have a more dynamic system that's more data driven," Mahan said. Gợi ý thực hành: 1. Theo dõi thông báo từ cơ quan địa phương tại California. 2. Kiểm tra nguồn chính thức trước khi chia sẻ lại thông tin.