Nearly 1,500. That’s the number of homeless individuals San Luis Obispo County recorded back in 2022 during the Point-in-Time Count, a comprehensive count of people experiencing homelessness. Both SLO County and Santa Barbara County are conducting their counts this week.
The main purpose of the Point-in-Time count? Funding. Counties are required to conduct one every other year by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to receive federal funding to provide homeless services.
According to the count in 2022, San Luis Obispo County saw a 52% increase in the homeless population over the last decade. About 80% of the 1,448 homeless individuals were unsheltered. Just over half of the homeless population in 2022 identified as male.
One bright spot from 2022 was the decrease in homeless veterans from the 2019 count. Just 16 veterans were experiencing homelessness in 2022 compared to 144 in 2019, a drop of nearly 90%.
Here’s a breakdown of those experiencing homelessness by city in SLO County from 2022:
- San Luis Obispo – 385
- Paso Robles – 234
- Atascadero – 93
- Grover Beach – 90
- Morro Bay – 79
- Arroyo Grande – 50
- Pismo Beach – 20
- Unincorporated – 497
The Santa Barbara County Point-in-Time Count in 2023 indicated there were 1,887 individuals experiencing homelessness, a slight decrease from the 1,962 counted in 2022. Nearly 2/3 identified as male in 2023.
Here’s a breakdown of those experiencing homelessness by city in Santa Barbara County from 2023:
- Santa Barbara – 787
- Santa Maria – 472
- Lompoc – 158
- Goleta – 136
- Isla Vista – 88
- Carpenteria – 23
- Buellton/Solvang/Santa Ynez – 20
- Guadalupe – 8
- Unincorporated – 195
The San Luis Obispo County Point-in-Time Count started Tuesday morning at 7:30 a.m. The Santa Barbara County Point-in-Time Count begins Wednesday at 5:30 a.m.
