01-05-2025
3,238 people counted in Austin's bi-annual tally of people experiencing homelessness
AUSTIN (KXAN) — After more than 600 volunteers spent a misty night in January hand-counting the number of people they found sleeping in cars, tents and parks, Austin's 2025 Point-In-Time (PIT) count shows at least 3,238 people were experiencing homelessness on that night.
The snapshot includes people in shelters and transitional housing — 1,661 during this count — and another 1,577 outside. Due to federal rules about how the count is conducted, 911 people in the Travis County jail who were otherwise unhoused are not included in the PIT total.
The PIT count is a bi-annual count done in Austin by the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO). It's federally required and provides a snapshot of how many people may be experiencing homelessness in Austin on any given night.
MORE: Point in Time data released, not likely a full count of people experiencing homelessness in Austin
While the PIT count helps the city of Austin identify people it may not otherwise reach with its homelessness response system, the PIT number is a well-established undercount. That's why ECHO also produces homelessness data through a dashboard on its website — allowing the public to tap into real-time information from service providers, shelters and outreach groups.
This year's PIT count found nearly 900 more people experiencing homelessness than the 2023 count; 2,374 people were found during the last count.
'You'll see a 36% increase in the number of unhoused neighbors counted on a single night in January,' Austin Mayor Kirk Watson wrote in his Watson Wire.
The mayor pointed out a significant portion of the increase is due to a 50% uptick in people at shelters since 2023's bi-annual PIT count.
'…(turns out, it's easier to count people when they're sheltered). Emergency shelter is not a stable housing solution, of course, but those people would've been on the street or in the woods if we hadn't focused on increasing our shelter capacity,' Watson wrote.
That's something Austin's Homeless Strategy Office echoed.
'This year marks the first time the PIT Count shows more people in shelters than unsheltered – punctuating the success of our focus on adding shelter beds so more people can come indoors and begin their path toward stability,' Austin Homeless Strategy Officer David Gray said.
Of the 561 people living outside who took the PIT survey this year, 13% said they are veterans, 44% said they were homeless for the first time, 68% said they became homeless in Austin-Travis County and 40% reported they were living with a physical disability.
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