\n Downtown Dallas (left) and downtown Fort Worth | Images: IcedCowboyCoffee and DerekAyala27\/Wikimedia Commons; cropped and compiled by The Dallas Express <\/p>\n
Downtown Dallas\u2019 homeless count fell 79% from a year earlier and crime dropped 47% in September, marking substantial progress on two persistent downtown problems, according to reports provided to The Dallas Express.<\/p>\n
The latest homeless survey counted 22 people, the sixth-lowest result in the initiative\u2019s history. The crime comparison recorded 171 offenses, down from 323 a year earlier, but still nearly eight times downtown Fort Worth\u2019s total of 22.<\/p>\n
The findings appear in September\u2019s Dallas CBD Homeless Survey and Downtown Crime Comparison, obtained by The Dallas Express.<\/p>\n
Homeless count approaches historic lows<\/p>\n
Survey participants counted 22 people in Dallas\u2019 central business district on September 28, compared with 103 on September 12, 2025. The survey began at 10:05 a.m. in partly cloudy conditions with a temperature of 82 degrees.<\/p>\n
The latest count was about 83% below the initiative\u2019s reported historical average of 128 and far below its peak of 411 on February 3, 2024.<\/p>\n
All seven of the lowest counts in the survey\u2019s history occurred in 2026. May produced the lowest result, 12, followed by counts of 18 in March and August, 20 in July and 21 in June. September\u2019s 22 ranked sixth, followed by April\u2019s 25.<\/p>\n
September did increase by four people from August, but remained well below the triple-digit counts that appeared repeatedly in earlier surveys.<\/p>\n
Six of the 22 people, about 27%, were in the two sectors immediately adjacent to The Bridge homeless shelter, according to the accompanying update. The other 16 were across seven sectors.<\/p>\n
As previously reported<\/a> by The Dallas Express, Housing Forward and other partners have coordinated outreach and housing efforts to reduce street homelessness downtown.<\/p>\n