According to recent data from the Department of Emergency Management, the number of homeless tents on the streets of San Francisco has reached its lowest point since prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In June, the city recorded just 165 tents and tent-like structures, marking a significant decline of about 25 percent since the last count in March 2025, which stood at 220.
This sharp drop illustrates an overall trend, with the tent count plummeting roughly 85 percent from its peak of 1,108 in April 2020, during the height of the pandemic.
The areas with the highest concentrations of tents include Apparel City, bordering Bernal Heights and Bayview, followed by South of Market and the Tenderloin.
Notably, Bayview continues to be the only neighborhood with any site containing more than six tents, a stark contrast to the peak of 66 large sites recorded in April 2020.
The city has conducted homelessness counts quarterly since April 2019, a process overseen by teams of city workers traversing the city, according to Denny Machuca-Grebe, a spokesperson for the Department of Emergency Management.
Mayor Daniel Lurie attributes the consistent decrease in the tent count to his initiative of launching coordinated street response teams in March.
Each of the five neighborhood-based teams collaborates with seven city departments to address the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness and behavioral health crises.
“Our work is far from done,” Lurie stated. “We will continue to be relentless in tackling the behavioral health and homelessness crisis from all angles, especially in the streets every day.”
However, some activists regard the number of tents as a misleading indicator of the overall homeless population.
Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness, argues that the statistics do not accurately reflect the city’s efforts to combat homelessness.
She points out that individuals may still be living on the streets but without the protection that tents provide.
Friedenbach notes the impact of homeless encampment sweeps initiated during the London Breed administration starting in August 2024, when city workers began confiscating tents and personal belongings.
This approach, she claims, has driven the homeless to sleep on sidewalks without any semblance of shelter, thereby creating an even more visible issue.
Quoted by Rob Young of the 16th Street Alliance, many Mission residents have observed that while the tents have been removed, the problems remain unchanged.
“The same addictions, the same problems. Except now it’s out in the open,” Young remarked.
Although the number of tents has decreased, the population in San Francisco’s shelters has seen an increase since 2021, growing from 6,859 individuals in 2024 to 9,913 in 2021.
This surge in shelter occupancy is attributed to improved shelter capacity and a rise in the number of people experiencing homelessness during the years 2022 to 2024.
Despite the mayor’s goal to add 1,500 new shelter beds, only 122 have been created thus far, leading to uncertainties about where those not in shelters are residing.
Friedenbach suggests that alternative counts could offer a more accurate picture of the homeless population, such as tracking how many individuals enter temporary shelters or transition to permanent housing.
According to a report released by the City Controller’s Office in March 2025, about 13 percent of people in shelters successfully exited into housing.
Friedenbach expressed skepticism about the current approach, stating that the city’s count effectively amounts to “counting a piece of fabric.”
In contrast, the last point-in-time count conducted in 2024 indicated a 13-percent decrease in the number of individuals living on the streets or in tents since 2022.
This count also highlighted the lowest number of unsheltered homeless people residing on the streets in a decade.
For Lurie and his department, the declining number of tents signals a positive shift and a growing momentum towards addressing homelessness.
Since assuming office, Lurie has prioritized building more shelters and enhancing safety and cleanliness on the streets.
His administration also ran a four-month pilot program featuring a “triage center” on Sixth Street aimed at connecting individuals grappling with homelessness and addiction to essential services.
Additionally, the police department established a round-the-clock “mobile-command unit” at the 16th Street BART plaza as part of cleanup efforts in the area.
He has proposed reallocating $88.5 million from housing construction to expanding shelter capacity.
“The declines aren’t just numbers,” Machuca-Grebe emphasized. “They are a positive indicator of safer, healthier streets and more San Franciscans accessing help.”
image source from：missionlocal
