Jen, 54, who is homeless, cleans out her tent on a warm day in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, May 18, 2026.
Gabrielle Lurie/S.F. Chronicle
Oakland’s homeless population dropped 20% over the past two years to 4,410, with nearly 1,000 fewer people living unsheltered in encampments or vehicles, according to new county data. But advocates warn a wave of shelter closures could jeopardize the city’s progress.
The decline, captured in a one-day count of homelessness across Alameda County, marks a notable reversal from 2024, when the city’s homeless population jumped 9% despite a countywide 3% dip. It follows more aggressive sweeps of Oakland’s most entrenched encampments and an influx in local and state funding for homeless services.
Cupid Alexander, Oakland’s new homelessness chief, said Monday that the progress was “great to see” but that the city still had a long way to go. He credited new investments in affordable housing and a rental assistance program designed to prevent more people from falling into homelessness.
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“We’re cautiously optimistic,” he said, adding that city officials are still working to understand whether people who left homelessness moved into housing, shelters or went elsewhere.
The figures come from a federally mandated point-in-time count conducted in January, when more than 1,300 volunteers fanned out across Alameda County to survey people experiencing homelessness. The one-day count — though imperfect and widely seen as an underestimate — is used by local, state and federal officials to assess the scale of the homelessness crisis and guide funding priorities.
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Volunteers counted 8,201 unhoused residents across Alameda County, down from 9,450 in 2024. Oakland, which accounts for more than half of the county’s homeless population, recorded 4,410 unhoused people, down from 5,485 two years ago, according to the county’s data. Several cities, including Berkeley, Fremont and Livermore, saw increases.
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Alameda joins a growing list of counties across California that have reported progress in the ongoing struggle to address their homelessness. San Francisco released its latest count earlier this month, reporting a 4% decline in overall homelessness since 2024. But San Francisco also made significant methodological changes this year, making direct comparisons difficult — unlike Alameda County, which used the same approach in its past two counts.
Jonathan Russell, Alameda County’s director of housing and homelessness services, said the recent count fell in line with other signs of progress. Alameda County recently reported that more people exited homelessness than entered last fiscal year, and that the percentage of people who returned to homelessness declined. The point-in-time count also found that a growing segment of unhoused residents are staying in shelters rather than on the streets.
But in Oakland, advocates worry the positive trends may not stick.
Jen, 54, who is homeless, sits in her tent in Oakland.
Gabrielle Lurie/S.F. Chronicle
Over the past year, Oakland shuttered more than 200 of its about 1,300 shelter beds, including nearly half of its tiny cabins for unhoused residents and safe parking sites for people living in vehicles. Faced with continued budget deficits, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee recently revealed plans to take another 190 shelter and housing beds offline this summer.
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The county has offset the loss of shelter beds in Oakland by adding about 300 beds countywide over the past year, using funds from a 10-year sales tax measure voters passed in 2020. County officials last year approved a $1.8 billion spending plan for revenue generated by the measure, and Oakland continues to lobby for a greater share of the dollars.
Russell, the county homelessness services chief, said the county is working with Oakland officials to try and prevent more shelters from closing.
John John, 47, left, organizes his belongings while talking to a friend under the I-88 freeway in Oakland. John John was recently kicked out of permanent housing.
Gabrielle Lurie/S.F. Chronicle
“Our goal is not just to open new (shelters) and let others close, but to really sustain them,” he said. “So a big part of our first investments going into this year is going to be enhancing and increasing shelter funding for current providers to make sure they can stay open.”
The city’s enforcement strategy is also changing. Oakland recently adopted a new policy that allows police and city staff to tow vehicles that people are living in without first offering their occupants shelter.
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Needa Bee, an activist with the homeless service organization The Village, said recent sweeps have made many unhoused people “invisible” and that the shelter closures and new enforcement policy only stand to make matters worse.
“Rather than actually investing in solutions, we’re seeing a continuation of an agenda to make unhoused people invisible and push them deeper into homelessness,” Bee said.
Iva Mosley, 48, chats with her friend Jen, 54, left, who are both homeless, outside Jen’s tent in Oakland, Calif., on Monday, May 18, 2026.
Gabrielle Lurie/S.F. Chronicle
At an encampment near Interstate 880 on Monday, Iva Mosley and her friend Jen, who declined to provide her last name, said they’d been forced to move their tent about a half-dozen times in the past year. Although Mosley, 48, thinks she’s on a waiting list for housing, she said she never received any follow up.
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“It’s really hard for anyone to try to keep up with me because of all the shuffling around,” Mosley said.