Washington, DC’s 2025 Point-in-Time (PIT) count identified 5,138 people experiencing homelessness on January 29, 2025. The count included people in emergency shelters, transitional housing, and unsheltered locations. The latest District update reported that overall homelessness rose 4.4% from the 2025 PIT count to the 2026 count, while remaining below several earlier comparison years. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results; 2026 Point-In-Time Results Provide Latest Snapshot of Homelessness in the District)
Washington DC homelessness statistics at a glance
- Recent trend: the 2026 count compared with 2025, 2020, and 2015.
- 2025 PIT total: the number of people, households, and locations counted.
- Shelter and unsheltered status: where people were staying.
- Race, age, and gender: demographic characteristics reported in 2025.
- Life experiences and health: violence, institutional history, and disability-related measures.
- Income and populations: employment, veterans, youth, LGBTQ+ status, and chronic homelessness.
Recent trend
The District’s 2026 PIT update provides the newest trend figures in the supplied sources. Overall homelessness increased 4.4% from 2025 to 2026. The increase was not uniform across groups: homelessness among unaccompanied individuals rose 0.3%, while homelessness among transition-age youth ages 18 to 24 decreased 0.7%. Family homelessness increased 15.8% over the same period. (2026 Point-In-Time Results Provide Latest Snapshot of Homelessness in the District)
The 2026 count was still 16% lower than the 2020 count and 26.5% lower than the 2015 count. Family homelessness was 35.5% lower than in 2020 and 54.8% lower than in 2015. The 2026 update also reported that family shelter entries declined 30% from the previous year. These are comparison figures for PIT results and shelter entries; they do not describe the same measurement period or necessarily the same population. (2026 Point-In-Time Results Provide Latest Snapshot of Homelessness in the District)
2025 PIT total
The January 29, 2025 PIT count identified 5,138 people experiencing homelessness. Within that total were 440 family households, representing 1,356 persons in families, and 3,782 unaccompanied individuals. Seven unaccompanied minors were included in the unaccompanied-individual total, and one of those seven minors was pregnant. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
The count is a one-night snapshot rather than a yearly total of every person who experienced homelessness. Its geography is the District of Columbia, and its measurement date was January 29, 2025. The location categories show that 84% of people counted were in shelter or transitional housing programs. The remaining people were counted in unsheltered locations. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
| 2025 PIT category | People or households counted |
|---|---|
| All people experiencing homelessness | 5,138 people |
| Persons in families | 1,356 people |
| Family households | 440 households |
| Unaccompanied individuals | 3,782 people |
| Emergency shelter | 3,275 people |
| Transitional housing | 1,065 people |
| Unsheltered locations | 798 people |
The 2025 total also separates household structure from individual status. Family households are counted as units, while persons in families are counted as people. Unaccompanied individuals are people counted without a family household designation. That is why the report presents both 440 family households and 1,356 persons in families, alongside 3,782 unaccompanied individuals. The figures are best read as complementary parts of the PIT snapshot rather than interchangeable totals. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
Shelter and unsheltered status
Emergency shelter accounted for 3,275 people in the 2025 count, while transitional housing accounted for 1,065. Unsheltered locations accounted for 798 people. Together, the shelter and transitional-housing categories contained 84% of the people counted. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
Among unaccompanied individuals, emergency shelters housed 2,347 people and transitional housing programs housed 643. The number of unaccompanied people in emergency shelter increased 0.8% from 2024 to 2025, but it was 9% lower in 2025 than in 2020. The number of unaccompanied people in transitional housing fell 13.5% from 2024 to 2025. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
For families, emergency shelters counted 598 children, 330 adults, and 273 family units. The unsheltered count included 792 unaccompanied adults. It also included two families made up of three adults and three children under age 17. These categories describe people and units recorded during the PIT count, not all shelter activity throughout 2025. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
Race, age, and gender
The 2025 demographic results show substantial differences between unaccompanied people and people in families. Black, African American, or African people represented 75.0% of unaccompanied persons and 91.7% of persons in families. Hispanic or Latino people represented 7.1% of unaccompanied persons, while White people represented 9.3% of unaccompanied persons. Across all people counted, 92% identified with a race and ethnicity other than White alone. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
People ages 18 to 24 represented 9.7% of unaccompanied individuals. Among family heads of household, people ages 18 to 24 represented 20.2%, and people ages 25 to 34 represented 52.5%. People age 55 and older represented 33.5% of unaccompanied individuals. The median age was 45 for unaccompanied individuals and 30 for family heads of household. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
Women represented 88.8% of adults in families counted in 2025. This gender figure applies to adults in families, not to every person included in the overall PIT total. The distinctions among unaccompanied individuals, family adults, and family heads of household matter when interpreting the percentages. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
Life experiences and health
The 2025 PIT results included reported histories and conditions for adults. A history of domestic or intimate-partner violence was reported by 22.4% of unaccompanied adults and 48.1% of adults in families. Having resided in an institutional setting was reported by 41.6% of unaccompanied adults and 7.0% of adults in families. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
| Reported characteristic | Unaccompanied adults | Adults in families |
|---|---|---|
| History of mental illness | 27.0% | 9.5% |
| Substance-abuse history | 15.7% | 0.2% |
| Chronic health problem | 15.9% | 2.3% |
| Physical disability | 13.4% | 2.6% |
The table reports the percentages supplied for each population. A history of mental illness was reported by 27.0% of unaccompanied adults and 9.5% of adults in families. A substance-abuse history was reported by 15.7% and 0.2%, respectively. Chronic health problems were reported by 15.9% of unaccompanied adults and 2.3% of adults in families, while physical disabilities were reported by 13.4% and 2.6%. These are reported characteristics in the PIT results and should not be read as diagnoses inferred from housing status. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
The contrast between the two adult groups is visible across the reported measures. Domestic or intimate-partner violence was more frequently reported among adults in families, at 48.1%, than among unaccompanied adults, at 22.4%. Institutional residence was reported by 41.6% of unaccompanied adults and 7.0% of adults in families. The income measures also differ: employment, receiving income, and TANF or public assistance were each reported at higher percentages among adults in families, while SSI or SSDI disability income was reported at a higher percentage among unaccompanied adults. These comparisons describe the reported 2025 populations and do not establish causes of homelessness. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
Income and populations
Employment was reported by 18.1% of unaccompanied adults and 29.3% of adults in families. Receiving income was reported by 51.1% of unaccompanied adults and 67.0% of adults in families. SSI or SSDI disability income was reported by 39.8% of unaccompanied adults and 7.4% of adults in families. TANF or public assistance was reported by 11.4% of unaccompanied adults and 43.1% of adults in families. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
The 2025 PIT count identified 199 veterans experiencing homelessness. Separately, the District’s Continuum of Care served 650 veterans in fiscal year 2024 and helped 143 of them exit to permanent housing. The fiscal-year service figures cover FY 2024, while the veteran PIT figure is a January 29, 2025 count; they are different measures and periods. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
The 2025 count identified 367 unaccompanied transition-age youth households and 86 transition-age-youth family households. Five hundred one adults, or 12% of all adults counted, identified as LGBTQ+: 470 were unaccompanied and 31 were adults in families. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)
Nearly 46% of unaccompanied adults and about 5% of family households in emergency shelter or unsheltered locations were counted as chronically homeless in 2025. This measure is limited to the populations and locations specified in the PIT results, so it should not be applied to all 5,138 people without that qualification. (2025 Point-in-Time Count Results)