SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday that the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in California had dropped almost 13% since 2024, providing a boost to a Democrat who has been dogged by criticism of his handling of the issue.

The number of unsheltered homeless people statewide dropped from 123,974 in 2024 to an estimated 108,125 in 2026, according to data provided by his office. The overall homeless population dropped about 6% in the same time frame.

The statistics are preliminary and based on what communities across California have reported so far to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The unsheltered homeless population, which made up about 62% of overall homeless Californians in 2026, refers to people who sleep outside in tents, cars or other makeshift shelters.

A handful of communities, like Santa Clara, Butte and Mendocino counties, haven’t yet reported their unsheltered populations for this year, which means the data could shift. And the number of unsheltered homeless people in 2026 was only slightly below that of the 108,423 people sleeping outside in 2019, the year Newsom entered office.

Still, it was a minor victory for the outbound governor, whose tenure has coincided with a 16.2% increase in the homeless population, according to a Sacramento Bee review of HUD reports from 2019 to 2026. The number of homeless Californians reported its second-highest peak at 187,084 people in 2024, the same year America’s homeless population swelled to its highest level in recorded history.

Before then, California reported its highest-ever homeless population in 2005 at 188,299 people under then-Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. By the time Schwarzenegger left office in 2010, the homeless population had dropped to 123,480 and remained relatively flat under former Gov. Jerry Brown, Newsom’s successor.

But it is Newsom who has long been associated with homelessness, which he calls the state’s “original sin,” dating back to his days as mayor of San Francisco. As a city supervisor in 2002, he successfully curtailed cash assistance to homeless people to cut costs while boosting in-kind services like shelter beds and food. He devoted his second State of the State address in 2020 to the issue.

Now, Newsom is termed out of the governor’s mansion early next year and is reportedly laying the groundwork for a presidential run in 2028, where his track record on homelessness will almost inevitably come up on the campaign trail.

“California is proving that homelessness is not inevitable. We’re making progress because we’re building housing, expanding treatment and shelter, and holding ourselves and local governments accountable,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re not backing down — and we’re not done.”

In recent years, as homelessness has become a nationwide problem, Newsom has begun claiming a number of small victories, like a 9% drop statewide in unsheltered people between 2024 and 2025, and an 8% reduction in veteran homelessness during the same time frame.

He has also welcomed federal interventions, like a 2024 Supreme Court ruling that said fining and arresting homeless people for camping in public does not violate their 8th Amendment rights against suffering cruel and unusual punishment.

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