Alameda County counted 8,201 people experiencing homelessness this year, a drop of 1,249 people from the 9,450 counted in 2024. That 13% decline marks the second year in a row the county's biennial Point-in-Time Count has shown a decrease, following nearly a decade of increases.
The figures come from the full 2026 Point-in-Time Count report, which Alameda County Health
highlighted in a social media post this week summarizing the data. The agency, based in San Leandro, reported that homelessness decreased 13% between 2024 and 2026 and that the new count confirmed preliminary numbers shared earlier in the year. The full report itself was released on October 28, according to
Alameda Post
.
More People Moving Into Shelter
Beyond the overall drop, the count found a shift in how people are experiencing homelessness. In 2024, 33% of the county's homeless population was sheltered and 67% was unsheltered; by 2026, the sheltered share had grown to 37%, with 63% unsheltered, per Alameda County Health's post. Unsheltered homelessness itself fell 18% over that span, from 6,343 people in 2024 to 5,202 in 2026.
It's worth noting what the count does and doesn't capture. The Point-in-Time Count is a single-night snapshot of sheltered and unsheltered people each January, and it does not include people who are doubled up in someone else's home, according to the Daily Californian. The count took place on January 22, 2026, with 1,300 volunteers.
A Decade of Increases, Now Reversing
The recent dip follows a long stretch of worsening numbers. Alameda County saw nearly a decade of rising homelessness between 2013 and 2022 before the trend began to turn, the Alameda Post reported. CalMatters adds further context on the shift underway: in 2025, slightly more people moved out of homelessness and into housing than became newly homeless, the first time that's happened since the county began tracking those flows in 2021.
The Alameda Post reported the specific numbers behind that shift — 4,445 people moved into permanent housing while 4,358 entered homelessness over a single year, meaning exits outpaced entries for the first time since tracking began. CalMatters also noted that the share of the county's unhoused population living in shelters has climbed steadily, from 21% in 2019 to 37% this year.
A Mixed Picture Across Cities
The countywide decline didn't play out evenly from city to city. In the City of Alameda, the homeless population fell from 455 people in 2024 to 242 in 2026, with unsheltered homelessness dropping from 300 to 129, according to the Alameda Post. Oakland saw an even steeper decline, with its count falling from 5,485 in 2024 to 4,410 in 2026 — a reduction of almost 20%, as reported by Local News Matters.
Berkeley moved in the opposite direction. Its homeless population rose from 844 people in 2024 to 880 in 2026, reversing a trend of decreases the city had seen between 2019 and 2024, per the Daily Californian. The same report found that 48% of Berkeley's homeless population was sheltered this year while 52% remained unsheltered, a contrast with the county's overall 63% unsheltered rate.
