A new trove of data on Multnomah County’s homeless population has been released this week, presenting the public with an updated and more accurate understanding of the region’s homelessness crisis.
The findings are poised to influence the future strategies and responses to homelessness in the region.
“This just reinforces our call to action,” stated Portland Mayor Keith Wilson during a meeting with city and county officials, where county staff shared insights from the new data.
The data derives from two significant reports.
The first report focuses on metrics provided by all publicly funded shelters relating to how long individuals stay in shelters, the speed at which they transition to permanent housing, and other critical statistics.
This report was overseen and presented by Multnomah County Commissioner Shannon Singleton at a county meeting on Tuesday.
“We know that we’re facing significant budget deficits,” Singleton remarked.
“I have requested these assessments so we can really examine the shelter investments and understand the types, the costs, and the outcomes.”
The second report emerges from a newly established process for tracking individuals experiencing homelessness throughout the region.
Dubbed a “by-name list,” this system was introduced on Wednesday and collects data on anyone who engages with the county or city’s homeless services, whether by staying in a shelter, interacting with outreach workers, or securing permanent housing.
As implied by its name, the county is now able to track individuals by their name and location, whether they are residing in a tent or a shelter bed.
Related research has shown a decline in chronic homelessness in the Portland region, revealing a need to delve deeper into the statistics behind these numbers.
For years, local government has relied on a biennial “point-in-time count,” which involves volunteers gathering data about where individuals experiencing homelessness spent the night on a single evening in January.
This methodology is a requirement from the federal government for jurisdictions seeking funding.
However, local officials have long deemed this approach unreliable and have urged for more precise data collection practices.
Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson commented that the new system offers the “most accurate” representation of individuals experiencing homelessness the county has ever compiled.
“So starting today, we have a new baseline of information available to help us measure our work,” she announced during a presentation of the data before county and city leaders.
“This is a very important milestone.”
Several key findings emerged from the new data reports.
Notably, the latest statistics indicate that more individuals are experiencing homelessness in Multnomah County than previously reported for 2024.
In January 2024, the county estimated its homeless population at approximately 11,400.
A year later, that figure has surged by 26%, climbing to 14,400.
“This is of course not what anyone wanted to see,” said Anna Plumb, deputy director of the county’s Homeless Service Department.
However, Plumb noted that this increase may not necessarily signal a rapidly growing homeless population.
Instead, she suggested it reflects the county and its service providers’ improved abilities to identify and report on individuals experiencing homelessness.
“Part of the increase is that we are finding more people in our community and serving them with our services,” she elaborated.
Furthermore, Plumb reported that individuals in Multnomah County are entering homelessness at a rate far exceeding those leaving it.
Between January 2024 and January 2025, 1,277 new individuals were recorded as homeless in Multnomah County.
Conversely, only 865 individuals are documented as having exited homelessness during that same period, either by moving into housing or because they have not been in contact with social services or outreach workers in the past 90 days.
Plumb emphasized that city and county tax funds currently provide housing for approximately 7,600 individuals who were previously homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.
“And yet people are entering homelessness at a faster rate,” she added.
She attributed this trend to various factors, including the region’s affordable housing deficit, high eviction rates, inflation, and scarcity of addiction and behavioral health resources.
“A lot of those elements are outside of the control of the homeless services department.”
Mayor Wilson’s ambition to construct sufficient shelters to accommodate the region’s unsheltered population may fall short of the actual need.
Wilson’s $28 million shelter initiative aims to create enough shelter beds for around 5,400 unsheltered individuals by the end of 2025.
However, current data indicates that there are about 6,300 people living without shelter in Multnomah County, surpassing the earlier estimates.
At the Wednesday meeting, Wilson expressed his determination despite this news.
“These numbers are sobering because it means that the goal post just got moved further away from us,” he stated.
“But we’re just simply going to adjust to it because these are our neighbors.”
Wilson has yet to disclose how he intends to finance his shelter plan.
He has sought support from the Metro regional government, the state Legislature, and private donors.
Furthermore, Multnomah County’s homeless shelters are reportedly at or near capacity on most nights.
According to the county’s latest figures from February, approximately 92% of the roughly 2,500 shelter beds available in the county are occupied on a typical night.
The county currently has more shelter beds available than ever before; in 2021, the county had about 1,100 beds.
In total, roughly 3,600 individuals utilized shelters in Multnomah County in February, compared to closer to 1,600 individuals in 2021.
Among the various types of shelters in Multnomah County, county-operated alternative shelters have emerged as the most effective at moving individuals into permanent housing.
Multnomah County runs seven alternative shelters, defined as village-style outdoor pod shelters.
Since July 2024, approximately 43% of individuals who stayed at these shelters transitioned into permanent housing upon leaving.
In contrast, only 14% of people residing in city-operated alternative shelters, also referred to as Safe Rest Villages and Temporary Alternative Shelter Sites, have successfully moved into permanent accommodation during the same period.
Most individuals exiting the city’s alternative shelters returned to homelessness.
City spokesperson Rob Layne cited data indicating that, in the preceding year, city shelters managed to move 47% of individuals into permanent housing.
He suggested that this discrepancy could be attributed to a decrease in funding.
“The city previously relied on temporary state money to pay for programs that help transition people from shelters into housing.
This year, the city is still awaiting $2 million from Multnomah County to support this work, causing a delay in services,” Layne noted.
Conversely, congregate shelters, characterized by large shared sleeping spaces, were the least effective, with only 12% of those users transitioning to housing after their stay.
The county’s motel shelters are almost as effective as the alternative shelters, with about 42% of individuals who utilized a motel shelter moving into permanent housing.
Overall, 16% of individuals in Multnomah County who have used a shelter since July 2024 have successfully transitioned to permanent housing upon leaving, while over 35% returned to homelessness.
When analyzing the operational costs of these shelters, congregate shelters stood out as the most economical to operate.
As per the county’s findings, mass indoor shelters cost the government about $60 per bed, per night to maintain.
Conversely, motel shelters rank as the most expensive, costing approximately $141 per bed, per night.
Individuals tend to stay an average of 73 days at a shelter in Multnomah County before they leave.
There are various reasons contributing to individuals’ exits from shelters.
However, the average length of stay is particularly noteworthy.
Under Mayor Wilson’s initiative aimed at eliminating unsheltered homelessness, he has proposed a cap of 90 days for stays in any shelter.
Yet shelter providers have expressed concerns that this timeframe may be inadequate.
Between June 2023 and July 2024, individuals stayed an average of 73 days in shelters, according to county data.
However, this duration varies significantly by shelter type.
The average stay in an alternative, village-type shelter was 267 days, while the average duration at a large congregate shelter was approximately 50 days.
What lies ahead?
County and city officials intend to leverage this new data to modify their budgets and joint programs aimed at addressing homelessness.
These adjustments may be addressed in upcoming proposed budgets from both the county and city, which are slated for release in the coming weeks.
Additionally, public officials are eager to pinpoint a missing aspect of the issue: the need for housing.
Michael Wilkerson, the director of economic research at ECOnorthwest, presented findings to county and city leaders on Wednesday, revealing that due to the sluggish pace of new housing construction in Portland, the city’s housing crisis appears to be directly linked to the homelessness crisis.
“The principal driver of the region’s homelessness crisis is housing scarcity and high rents,” he affirmed.
In Portland, the responsibility for public housing development falls to the city, not the county.
The new city council has already indicated a desire to enhance public housing development in the ensuing years.
Additionally, Mayor Wilson has recently collaborated with Gov. Tina Kotek to explore strategies for increasing market-rate rental construction.
On Wednesday, Wilson reiterated that building housing is his ultimate priority.
“The goal is to alleviate the pressure on our system so our outreach workers and housing teams can focus on the long-term solution, which is adding housing,” he concluded.
“It’s a housing problem, so let’s address it.”
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