Lane County homelessness falls slightly, but thousands remain unsheltered
Lane County's homelessness count slipped to 4,490, but about 64% were still unsheltered and 2,039 were chronically homeless.
Lane County counted 4,490 people experiencing homelessness in January 2026, a 7.5% drop from January 2025, but the county still estimated that about 64% were unsheltered. The by-name list also showed 2,039 chronically homeless people, 2,811 residents with at least one disability, 717 people in adult-child households, 326 in youth households and 259 veterans.
The figure came from Lane County’s Homeless By Name List, a coordinated-entry system built from data shared by more than 30 organizations. That countywide tracking system is separate from the Point-in-Time street count required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development every other year for a full sheltered-and-unsheltered count. Lane County conducted its 2025 street count on the night of Jan. 29, 2025, and its next full countywide count is scheduled for 2027.
The January 2026 estimate landed almost exactly where the county’s October 2025 by-name list had already been, showing 4,489 active clients in the homelessness response system. The list tracks who is new, who exits to housing and who returns for services, giving officials a more frequent operational snapshot than the one-night federal street count.
Lane County’s Diversion program helped 1,047 households exit homelessness quickly between January 2025 and January 2026, and 926 of those households were still housed six months later. Bridges on Broadway is a 57-unit apartment building for people experiencing chronic homelessness and received $8.4 million in funding. Homes for Good bought the former hotel during the pandemic and later used it as temporary shelter after the Holiday Farm Fire.
In May 2025, the county’s homelessness total had risen 14% since 2024 and 24% since 2023. The county’s Poverty and Homelessness Board, formed in 2014, governs homelessness and poverty policy.
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