Skid Row is buckling again, and the new numbers strike at the heart of Los Angeles’ biggest political promise.

New homeless count figures show Skid Row’s homeless population surged 23% in just one year, adding 907 more people. According to the 2026 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, 4,892 people were living in Skid Row this year, up from 3,985 in 2025. 

The increase ranks among the largest anywhere in Los Angeles, and marks a major setback in the neighborhood that has long been the epicenter of the city’s homelessness crisis.

For longtime Skid Row resident and U.S. Marine veteran Don Garza, the numbers simply confirm what he has witnessed every day.

Garza said many Angelenos believe homelessness is improving because repeated encampment sweeps have removed tents from sidewalks.

“The city turns around and says, ‘Look, there’s no tents,’” Garza said. “‘So we cleaned everything up,’ and everybody buys it.”

“But it’s still homelessness.”

Garza said Skid Row remains the center of the region’s homelessness system, drawing people every day for meals, outreach, medical care and other services before many disperse into neighborhoods across Los Angeles.

“They come here, they get whatever they can. Then, before it gets dark, they all scatter out across the city,” Garza said.

The investment has been substantial.

Los Angeles recently increased funding for Skid Row housing operations to $11.3 million through state homelessness grants, while the county’s $280 million Skid Row Action Plan is expanding housing, behavioral health services and a new care campus in the neighborhood. 

Multiple city-funded outreach teams are also assigned exclusively to Skid Row to connect people with shelter, housing and treatment services.

The increase comes about 18 months after Councilmember Ysabel Jurado took office representing Downtown Los Angeles, including Skid Row.

Backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, Jurado campaigned on expanding affordable housing, preventing displacement and addressing the root causes of homelessness.

Since taking office, Jurado’s district has received the largest share of affordable housing funding from the city’s Measure ULA mansion tax program, with more than 1,700 affordable housing units planned across 25 projects.

The increase also reversed three consecutive years of declining homeless counts under former Councilmember Kevin de León, who made Skid Row the centerpiece of coordinated encampment cleanups, outreach efforts and housing placements.

Paul Webster, executive director of the LA Alliance for Human Rights, which is suing the city and county over the homelessness crisis, said Thursday the latest figures show Los Angeles continues spending more while struggling to measure what is actually working.

“The increase in LA homelessness counts is no surprise,” Webster told The California Post on Thursday. “In LA, despite more money, more capacity, and more attention than ever, no one knows what causes homelessness to increase or decrease.”

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