Inner City Law Center Responds to 2025 Los Angeles Homeless Count Numbers
Despite a 4% decline in the point-in-time homeless count in Los Angeles County, we still face a homelessness crisis that cannot be resolved without a coordinated and comprehensive prevention system.
Los Angeles, CA (July 15, 2025) — The 2025 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, released yesterday by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), once again underscores the urgent and ongoing crisis facing tens of thousands of Angelenos without a safe place to call home.
“While it is good news that the point-in-time homeless count has declined, the fact remains that too many Angelenos are becoming homeless every day. We will never effectively tackle homelessness unless we start preventing it from happening in the first place. We must expand our efforts to keep low-income renters in stable housing, and we must establish a truly comprehensive prevention system throughout L.A. County,” said Adam Murray, CEO of Inner City Law Center.
Though LAHSA’s count found a heartening decline in the number of unsheltered people in Los Angeles County, the 72,308 people currently experiencing homelessness every night in L.A. make it clear that our region’s response remains inadequate and far from urgent enough.
The release of these numbers comes at a pivotal time for housing and homelessness policy in Los Angeles. While public investments in interim shelter are essential, today’s data makes clear that homelessness will not be solved without sustained, coordinated, and systemic change that includes substantial prevention efforts. It costs the system approximately $100,000 per year to support just one unhoused person, while it costs just $5,000 to provide that same person the legal support they need to avoid ever falling into homelessness.¹
Inner City Law Center works daily on the front lines — providing critical legal services from its office in Skid Row and advancing policies that protect unhoused people and prevent struggling renters from falling into homelessness. Inner City Law Center also advocates for long-term solutions, including stronger tenant protections, increased housing subsidies, and more focus on preventing homelessness before it happens.
That work also includes pushing back against efforts to criminalize homelessness. Inner City Law Center is proud to sponsor SB 634, a bill designed to prevent local governments from penalizing service providers and mutual aid groups who offer basic support to unhoused individuals.
“Homelessness is not a problem we can arrest or relocate away,” said Mahdi Manji, Director of Policy at Inner City Law Center. “SB 634 protects the people and organizations who step up to help our homeless neighbors. No one should face fines or criminal penalties for showing compassion.”
“The 2025 Homeless Count results should be a call to action for all of us,” said Murray. “Ending homelessness in Los Angeles will require political will, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to justice.”
¹ Laxamana, L. (2020, October 13). Why funding civil legal services is smart strategy. Walter & Elise Haas Fund. Retrieved July 15, 2025, from https://haassr.org/why-funding-civil-legal-services-is-smart-strategy/
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About Inner City Law Center
Inner City Law Center is a nonprofit, poverty-law firm located in the Skid Row neighborhood of Los Angeles and working to end the homelessness crisis by providing free legal services to the most vulnerable residents of Los Angeles.
Inner City Law Center’s staff of more than 150 (including over 75 lawyers), together with hundreds of volunteers, fight for people facing eviction, struggling with landlord harassment, fighting to secure their veteran or disability benefits, or standing up to slum housing conditions. Learn more at www.innercitylaw.org.
Media Contact: Jacqueline Burbank, Communications Manager, jburbank@innercitylaw.org or (213) 947-7902