Although overall homelessness is down Countywide, Los Angeles continues to struggle with a high unsheltered homeless population. LAHSA’s 2018 count reports that there are approximately 9,500 people living in tents or encampments across the County.



Large encampments are concentrated in relatively fewer communities across the County when compared to other forms of homelessness. However, just because a community does not have large numbers of tents and encampments does not mean that it doesn’t have a sizable unsheltered homeless population. Willowbrook, Wilmington, and Sylmar all contain less than 50 people living in encampments or tents, but well over 250 people living in cars, vans and campers. The figure below shows a side-by-side comparison of the number of people living in tents/encampments and vehicles across the County, highlighting the fact that while encampments may be a commonly-cited form of the homelessness problem in Los Angeles County, many people are experiencing homelessness in less visible ways.

