Roughly 3,200 people experience homelessness in Austin on any given night

Just over 3,200 people in Austin and Travis County slept in tents, shelters or cars on one night in January. That’s about 800 more people, or a 36% increase, compared to 2023, the last time a homeless count was done.

Cities and towns that want to qualify for certain grants are required by the federal government to conduct what’s called a point-in-time (PIT) count. The annual counts are usually done by volunteers who spend a night searching for people sleeping outside and in shelters.

In Austin, the count is run by the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, or ECHO. One night this past January, hundreds of volunteers found 3,238 people considered to be homeless across the city and county.

People who work in homeless services caution that the PIT count offers just a small glimpse into the extent of a city’s homeless population. Many agree it’s an undercount.

“You’re always going to miss some folks,” said Liz Schoenfeld, the CEO of Lifeworks, a nonprofit that works with young people experiencing homelessness in the Austin area. “Some folks are really good at staying undetected.”

Schoenfeld said some people may have found a place to sleep on the night of the count, whether at a hotel or on a friend’s couch. Others may not appear homeless and go uncounted by volunteers.

Over the past few years, Austin City Council members have increasingly earmarked more and more money for homeless services. Much of that money has been bolstered by federal funds doled out during the pandemic. City money will fund the opening of hundreds of new apartments for people who have been homeless over the next several years.

While the total estimate of people experiencing homelessness went up this year, a larger portion of people were sleeping in shelters instead of outside.

In 2023, roughly 47% of homeless people were sleeping in shelters on the night of the count. This year, that number rose to 51%.

That could be partially explained by increased investment in city-run shelters; since the summer of 2023, council members have continued to fund a temporary shelter in Southeast Austin.

One notable difference between past counts and this year’s is the portion of people in local jails who are homeless. In 2023, roughly a third of people in Travis County jails on the night of the count were likely experiencing homelessness; this year, that rose to 36%.

This story was produced as part of the Austin Monitor’s reporting partnership with KUT.

The Austin Monitor’s work is made possible by donations from the community. Though our reporting covers donors from time to time, we are careful to keep business and editorial efforts separate while maintaining transparency. A complete list of donors is available here, and our code of ethics is explained here.