Los Angeles Homelessness Rises for First Time in Two Years, Complicating Mayor Karen Bass’s Reelection Bid

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The ongoing crisis of Los Angeles homelessness has taken a controversial turn as new data reveals the number of unhoused individuals living on the city’s streets has increased for the first time in two years. This unexpected shift has immediately complicated Mayor Karen Bass’s reelection campaign, drawing sharp criticism from her political opponents and raising urgent questions about the future of the city’s housing strategies.

According to the latest annual count, more than 45,000 people are experiencing homelessness in the city of Los Angeles, marking a 3.4% increase from last year. County-wide, the number of unhoused individuals rose 10.2% to approximately 73,000. The most alarming metric for city leaders is the surge in unsheltered homelessness, with the number of people sleeping outdoors or in vehicles jumping 7.9%. This represents more than 2,100 additional people living outside, abruptly ending two consecutive years of declines that city leadership had previously pointed to as proof that Los Angeles was finally turning a corner.

Mayor Karen Bass has attributed the rising numbers to severe federal and state funding cuts, alongside higher living costs that are pushing more families to the edge. A county agency also noted that a bottleneck in time-limited rental subsidies has slowed the transition of individuals from temporary shelters into permanent housing.

“We have dealt with unbelievable uncertainty from the federal government,” Mayor Karen Bass stated, addressing the financial challenges. “Our money was cut half, 50%, by Sacramento, [and there are] changes that are taking place in the county. But what I disagree with is that people should stay on the street until we get housing built.”

Homelessness has been a central issue of Mayor Bass’s first term, and this latest data threatens to undermine her core campaign message. A recent poll conducted by UC Berkeley and the Los Angeles Times shows Bass trailing her primary competitor, Councilwoman Nithya Raman, 32% to 28%, a gap that remains within the poll’s margin of error.

The new figures transform what was once Mayor Bass’s strongest argument—two consecutive years of declining homelessness rates—into a potential political vulnerability just months before the November 3rd runoff. Councilwoman Nithya Raman has already seized on the results to question the current administration’s effectiveness.

“The council can pass legislation. The council can move motions forward, but it is the mayor that has charge of implementation and outcomes,” Councilwoman Nithya Raman asserted. She argues that City Hall has spent hundreds of millions of dollars without creating sufficient permanent housing or ensuring lasting accountability. To highlight alternative approaches, Raman pointed to a reported 49% drop in street homelessness inside her own council district, even as she noted the citywide number rose nearly 8%.

Experts caution that the annual homeless count is a one-night estimate rather than a perfect census. Furthermore, officials note that the city and county increases are not large enough to be considered statistically significant. However, political analysts emphasize that mayoral campaigns are typically won or lost on whether voters believe their city looks and feels better.

The next major political fight will center on funding and whether Los Angeles can restart stalled housing placements before another year of progress slips away. Moving forward, both Mayor Karen Bass and Councilwoman Nithya Raman face the critical challenge of convincing voters that they can do more than just shift the numbers—they must prove they can move more people into permanent homes.