Housing

Homelessness & Housing Insecurity

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UNSHELTERED HOMELESS POPULATION ON THE DECLINE 

Rising rent or mortgage costs, foreclosure, loss of a job, or simply not having enough money to afford the high upfront costs of renting or buying are challenges that can force many households into insecure living conditions.  Living doubled- or tripled-up due to economic constraints can place stress on personal relationships, housing stock, public services, and infrastructure.  When shared housing is not an option, the result can be homelessness.  This indicator measures housing security in San Bernardino County by tracking the demand for rental assistance and public housing, the number of public school students who are homeless or have insecure housing arrangements, and the Point-in-Time Homeless Count. 

Key Definitions

Housing Insecurity: Lack of stable, safe, and affordable housing.

Unsheltered: Lack of a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence.

Doubled-up: Temporarily sharing housing with other people due to loss of housing or economic hardship.

TREND

Homeless Students

Approximately 1-in-15 school-age students have insecure housing.  In the 2024/25 school year, 28,164 San Bernardino County K-12 students were identified as homeless or lacking secure housing, representing 7% of total enrollment.[1] Although the number of students with insecure housing dipped slightly over the past year, it has increased 10% over the past five years, from 25,597 in 2020/21.  Among homeless and housing insecure students, 88% are living in households with multiple families in a home due to economic hardship, 6% live in motels, 4% live in shelters, and 2% live unsheltered in cars, parks, or campgrounds.

NUMBER OF HOUSING INSECURE STUDENTS TRENDING UPWARD OVER TIME
Number of San Bernardino County Students Identified as Homeless or Housing Insecure by Primary Nighttime Residence, 2019/20-2024/25

Note: Homeless student enrollment consists of the total unduplicated number of enrolled students who experienced homeless at any point in time during the academic year.  

Source: DataQuest Report of Homeless Student Enrollment by Dwelling Type (https://dq.cde.ca.gov/dataquest/) 

Rental Assistance

Due to high demand and low supply of housing assistance, many residents seeking rental assistance from the Housing Authority of San Bernardino County will wait many years before the opportunity arises. In 2025, 11,370 households were housed through a rental assistance voucher program or by leasing a public housing unit.  Meanwhile, there were 191,328 household applicants waiting for rental assistance in 2025.  Between 2024 and 2025, there was a 4% decrease in the number of households assisted and an increase of 64% in the number of households on waiting lists.[2] The marked increase in the number of applicants on the waiting list is attributed to the opening of a new waitlist for Valencia Grove Phase II development in Redlands. It is also important to note that households may submit applications to multiple waitlists simultaneously, which can further impact overall numbers.  

NUMBER OF APPLICANTS ON WAITING LIST JUMPS 64% BETWEEN 2024 AND 2025
Number of Households Assisted and Number of Vouchers and Number of Applicants on Waiting List for Various Housing Assistance Programs in San Bernardino County, 2021-2025

Note: Households served include those served through rental assistance voucher programs or public housing units. Data do not include counts from the Needles Housing Authority. 

Source: Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino 

Point-in-Time Homeless Count

The 2026 Point-in-Time Homeless Count revealed that 3,718 people were homeless in San Bernardino County, a one-year decrease of 3.1% from 2025, and a 12% increase since 2022, when 3,333 homeless individuals were counted.[3] Approximately 66% of people experiencing homelessness who were counted in 2026 were unsheltered. The remainder (34%) were sheltered in some type of temporary shelter or housing for the homeless.  The number of unsheltered individuals who were homeless decreased 7.1% between 2025 and 2026. 

NUMBER OF HOMELESS INDIVIDUALS CONTINUES RECENT DECREASE
Number of Individuals Who are Homeless by Sheltered and Unsheltered Status in San Bernardino County, 2022-2026

Source: San Bernardino County Continuum of Care Homeless Count and Survey Final Reports 2022-2026  
CHARACTERISTICS OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY’S UNSHELTERED HOMELESS ADULT POPULATION
(AMONG 2,607 UNSHELTERED ADULTS SURVEYED)
7%
Seniors (age 65 and over)
41%
Chronically Homeless*
71%
Male
22%
Substance Abuse Disorder
22%
Mental Health Problem

*Chronically homeless is defined by HUD as being homeless for one year or more and having a disabling condition such as mental illness, chronic health condition, or a physical disability.  

Source: 2026 San Bernardino County Continuum of Care Homeless Count and Survey Final Report

Point-In-Time Homeless Count

The San Bernardino County Homeless Count and Subpopulation Survey is an annual census of the number of people experiencing homelessness in a 24-hour period typically during the last 10 days of January.

RACE/ETHNICITY DETAIL

Point-in-Time Homeless Count

Over one-third of the the 2,620 unsheltered individuals identify as Latino (38.6%) and another one-third identify as White (34.7%). Nineteen percent identify as Black. 

MOST UNSHELTERED INDIVIDUALS IDENTIFY AS LATINO OR WHITE 

Percent of Unsheltered Individuals in San Bernardino County by Race/Ethnicity, 2026 

Note: In 2026, race and Latino ethnicity data were reported in the same data element.  

Source: 2026 San Bernardino County Continuum of Care Homeless Count and Survey Final Report  

[1] The federal law that governs the identification of homeless and housing insecure school-age students (McKinney-Vento) includes those who are living unsheltered as well as those housed in shelters, motels or hotels, or living doubled- or tripled-up due to economic hardship. Totals may not add to 100% due to rounding. 

[2] Voucher program units are privately owned, with rent subsidies paid directly to owners by the Housing Authority. Public housing units are owned and managed by the Housing Authority. Both vouchers and public housing unit subsidies are funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

[3] The point-in-time estimates of homelessness are based on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development definition of homelessness, which only counts individuals living in homeless shelters or living unsheltered in a place not intended for human habitation. 

1The federal law that governs the identification of homeless and housing insecure school-age students (McKinney-Vento) includes those who are living unsheltered as well as those housed in shelters, motels or hotels, or living doubled- or tripled-up due to economic hardship. Totals may not add to 100% due to rounding. 2Rental assistance in the form of Housing Choice Vouchers, or a similar program, enables recipients to seek housing in the private market from landlords who will accept the vouchers. The voucher subsidizes the recipient’s rent. Rental assistance may also take the form of Section 8 project-based vouchers which provide vouchers for recipients to use in properties awarded a project-based voucher contract with the housing authority or public housing authority units that have been converted through the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. Households may apply for any of these options and be on multiple waitlists. A total of 82,813 applications for tenant based, RAD, and non RAD voucher-based assistance were on the waitlist as of September 30, 2020. 3This number includes 9,477 individuals with a leased-up voucher through the Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino as of September 30, 2020, and 19 households with a leased-up voucher through Needles Housing Authority as of December 31, 2020. 4Public housing can take the form of apartment complexes or houses that are owned by a Public Housing Authority and rented at an affordable rate to income-eligible recipients. Most public housing units in San Bernardino County have been converted to project-based voucher assistance through the HUD Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. 5The point-in-time estimates of homelessness are based on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development definition of homelessness, which only counts individuals living in homeless shelters or living unsheltered in a place not intended for human habitation. 6Race data and ethnicity data were reported separately by the data source.