The number of homeless people in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties is higher than ever, according to the latest numbers from the
national biannual homelessness count.
Known as the point-in-time count, the federally mandated census takes place every other year and is focused on creating a snapshot of who is homeless on one night in January. It is broadly understood to be an undercount, but officials still view the data as useful in
identifying national trends and making comparisons between jurisdictions.
Surveyors identified 12,034 homeless people in the tri-county region this January, with 87% of them residing in Multnomah County, according to the preliminary data. More than half of those counted – 7,038 people – were unsheltered.
That’s the highest total since the count began in 2007, according to historical data. And the increase has happened despite all three counties sheltering and housing
thousands more people every year.
These numbers could change slightly after the counties submit their data to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for review on June 13. (Typically, numbers are due at the end of April, but federal layoffs appear to have contributed to a delay this year.)
The increase in homelessness among Latino, Indigenous, Black and Asian people in the Portland area from 2023 to this year was especially stark, said Marisa Zapata, director of the Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative at Portland State University. Zapata’s team oversees the biannual census for all three counties.
There was a 114% increase in the number of homeless people who are Latino from 2023 to this year. The number of American Indian and Alaska Native people experiencing homelessness jumped by 103% over that same time period. The number of homeless people who identified as Asian or Black rose by about 65% in both cases. The increase among white people was lower, at just 42%.
“Everything is a ‘both, and,’” Zapata said when asked what had contributed to the significantly higher numbers among specific groups. “We have more culturally specific services, so more people are going to show up in the count. We also have more evictions. And we know people of color are more likely to be evicted.”
The number of evictions filed in Oregon exceeded 2,000 per month for the majority of 2024, a much higher average rate of evictions than were filed in 2023, according to numbers from Evicted in Oregon, a
data project by professors at Portland State University. January 2025 saw the most evictions filed of any month since January 2020.
At the same time as homelessness is actually growing, the
increase in shelter and outreach services in recent years has also contributed to an increase in the number of people who are identified in the count. For example, in January 2023, just 12 Indigenous people were recorded as being homeless in Clackamas County. In 2025, that number jumped to 32.
In the interim though, the county had opened a shelter specifically for Indigenous people. The new shelter, run by Native American Youth and Family Center, accommodates about 21 people, almost exactly the difference between the 2023 and 2025 counts.
Overall, the census in Clackamas County showed a decrease in several vulnerable populations, including people who are chronically homeless.
“It shows we’re doing a good job at prioritizing the most vulnerable people experiencing homelessness for housing placement,” said Vahid Brown, deputy director of the county’s housing and community development department. “That’s the good news we draw from this count.”
The not so good news is that homelessness rose in Clackamas County, to 568 people overall and 358 without shelter. Brown said that without the new outreach, shelter and rent assistance programs paid for by the regional homeless services tax, the increase would have been higher. And the county remains on a long-term downward trend from a high of 1,826 homeless people in 2009, according to federal data.
The trend in Multnomah County has been the opposite. After staying nearly flat from 2009 to 2019, homelessness has been rising sharply since the pandemic, according to federal data.
One key reason for the increase is the failure of wages to keep up with the cost of housing, according to
data presented by economic research firm ECONorthwest this fall. The majority of housing stock in the Portland metro area now costs more than 30% of the median area income of $116,900.
Newly released numbers from the county’s new by name list show the same trend, though the actual numbers from recent months are higher. In March, the county reported having 15,245 homeless residents, about 7,000 of whom were living unsheltered.
This year, for the third time, Multnomah County used the data in its by name list to increase the accuracy of its federally mandated homelessness count.
“Multnomah County is unique in our region for incorporating by-name-list data into our point-in-time count,” wrote county spokesperson Julia Comnes in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive. “That’s why comparisons to other communities, as well as comparisons to previous Multnomah County data, should be done with caution.”
Even with this extra work, the county’s point-in-time count numbers were a significant undercount, with 4,000 fewer homeless people recorded than were identified in the county’s more granular by name data.
While the point-in-time is considered an undercount in every region of the country, Zapata said the local count has gotten more accurate in recent years. In addition to Multnomah County’s use of its by name list, Clackamas County has invested in making sure more people are counted by adding additional outreach workers.
And despite the rough estimate nature of the count, it still allows homeless service providers to identify national trends about who is homeless.
“We’re trying to not let perfection be the enemy of the good,” Zapata said.
Due to delays at the federal level this year, it is not yet possible to compare the Portland area to other parts of the country.
The uncertainty surrounding
the future of federal homelessness funding is unsettling to leaders in all three counties, they said.
Washington County officials said they had been able to add a significant number of services and house many more people since the regional homeless services tax passed in 2020. But, like counties across the country, they still rely heavily on the homeless services funding that comes from the federal government and may now be in question.
“All the incredible infrastructure we’ve built from the ground up would be completely devastated, affecting thousands of people’s lives” without both regional and federal funding, said Molly Rogers, director of housing services for Washington County. “That’s the stuff that keeps us up at night.”
Washington County reported 940 homeless people in its 2025 point-in-time count, up from 773 in 2023. The number of unsheltered homeless people in the county remained fairly stable at just over 230.
In part, that’s because the county has moved a significant number of people into housing, said Jes Larson, the leader of homeless services for the county. Of the people included in the county’s last count, 70% are no longer homeless, Larson said.
That means most of the people included in this year’s count are new, she said.
“It’s working, but new people are falling into homelessness all the time,” Larson said. “If we’re not able to serve people who are newly homeless in time, some of them will become chronically homeless.”
Finalized numbers and additional qualitative data about the people surveyed in this year’s point-in-time count will be released this summer, Zapata said. In the Portland area that will include gender data, a category
the federal government has decided to forgo in 2025.
“Not understanding gender in relation to homelessness will harm the efforts to serve people,” Zapata said. “Men tend to be much more likely to show up in these data sets. But the proportion of women who are fleeing domestic violence or who are sexually trafficked tends to be fairly high compared to men.”
Zapata said data about people who identify as nonbinary or transgender is also important for understanding the best way to serve that population, a significant number of whom are young people. Whatever happens at the federal level, Zapata said she is glad the Portland area counties collected and published gender information this year.
Whether federal funding continues to flow to locales as a result of them completing the biannual survey is the larger concern at the moment, Zapata said.
“It’s going to be bad if they cut money for everyone,” she said. “It will undo any progress that’s been made on supporting people while they’re homeless, preventing them from becoming homeless or helping people move into housing.”
