![\"Tents](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1247572601-800x533.jpg\")
<\/p>\nOakland saw a 20% drop in its unhoused population over the past two years. <\/p>\n
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A large tent encampment where people live in West Oakland in February 2023. \u00a0(Tayfun Co\u00c5kun\/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The biggest decrease was in Oakland, which saw a 20% drop in its unhoused population. The result reverses a trend recorded in 2024, when the city\u2019s homelessness rose 9% while the county overall saw a modest decline.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday\u2019s proof is that we are doing the right thing,\u201d Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Still, Oakland, which accounts for more than half of the county\u2019s unhoused individuals, despite representing just 22% of the population, is the \u201cepicenter\u201d of the county\u2019s crisis, she said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe homelessness crisis in Alameda County, here in Oakland specifically, is at its root a racial equity crisis,\u201d Lee said. \u201cIt\u2019s a product of decades, and I mean decades, of redlining, disinvestment and displacement. We can\u2019t sweep this under the rug.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lee said Oakland has the lofty goal of reducing homelessness by 50% in five years.<\/p>\n
The city has 1,000 units of housing for formerly unhoused people that are already in construction or set to break ground next year, and 2,000 new affordable housing units in its pipeline, according to Lee.<\/p>\n
But Oakland is also facing budget headwinds, and Lee warned that without additional funding, the city could have to cut about 190 shelter beds. In June, Oaklanders will vote on whether to pass Measure E<\/a>, an annual parcel tax that could raise $34 million for the city annually.<\/p>\n A day-long count of homelessness, the PIT is a federal survey conducted every other January in counties across the country. While the method is considered an imperfect measure of homelessness, it is useful for identifying trends.<\/p>\n The 1,300 volunteers who walked Alameda County block by block in one morning this year found that the number of families with children and unaccompanied youth under 25 experiencing homelessness decreased, while veteran homelessness rose slightly. A few cities, including Berkeley, Fremont and Livermore, saw slight upticks in their total unhoused populations.<\/p>\n One of the survey\u2019s biggest findings was a continued rise in the number of unhoused people who are sheltered in Alameda County, with 1,140 fewer people sleeping on the streets compared to 2024. Since 2019, that percentage has increased from 21% to 37%.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not entirely clear whether the number of unsheltered unhoused people was impacted by policy shifts after the Supreme Court\u2019s 2024 decision gave cities the right to enforce camping bans, though Oakland and Berkeley are among the cities that tightened encampment management policies that had been disallowed under a previous lower court order.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20250529_OhloneParkEncampment_GC-16_qed.jpg\")
The homeless encampment at Ohlone Park in Berkeley on May 29, 2025. (Gina Castro\/KQED)<\/p>\n