Austin releases 'point-in-time' homeless count results

AUSTIN, Texas - The city has released its point-in-time (PIT) count report, which is an estimate of the number of unhoused people on a single night in Austin.

The Ending Community Homeless Coalition, or ECHO, publishes the report.

The 2025 Point-in-Time Count

By the numbers:

Overnight, between January 25 and 26, more than 600 volunteers set out to count people living in tents, cars, abandoned buildings, and on the streets. 

The PIT count is federally required every other year.

Volunteers counted a total of 3,238 people. 1,577 of those were unsheltered, and 1,661 were in shelters. 

The numbers are likely an undercount, because it was only from one night. Those without homes who were in jail that night are also not counted. 

561 people answered the survey, 13 percent of whom were veterans. 44 percent were homeless for the first time, and 68 percent became homeless in Austin-Travis County. 

A heat map shows homelessness becoming more spread out throughout the city.

There are about a thousand more homeless people counted compared to 2023, but 600 more people are in shelters. 

What they're saying:

"There are real limitations, but it is a really good data point for us to understand our unsheltered population in the community," Matt Mollica, executive director of ECHO, said. 

"We've been making a concerted effort to get people indoors and get them into shelter," David Gray, homeless strategy officer for the city of Austin said. 

Homeless funding

Dig deeper:

The city still needs $100 million in homeless funding. Much of the COVID-19 pandemic-era federal funding has been used up.

"The problem with our system is that it's too small. It's like a 15-passenger plane trying to serve 500 passengers, just not enough seats," Gray said. 

That $100 million price tag includes lots of services.

"That's everything from homeless prevention to keeping people housed to adding more shelter beds so we can triage people's needs all the way to rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing," Gray said.

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"To pick up some of those costs, this is going to be a real community-wide effort, both when it comes to who's delivering the services and who's funding those services," Mollica said.

Gray says per person, in the first 30 days of homelessness, it costs about $1,500 to $3,000 to stabilize a person. Over 15 or 20 years, that can turn into $35,000.

"That's why we're making a big push to try to keep people housed or at least address their needs before they become chronically homeless because it's a huge savings to the city but more importantly it means that somebody doesn't have to spend many nights on the street," he said.

What's next:

ECHO says it takes several months to do the report because they have to undo duplicate counts, get shelter numbers, and group data by demographic. 

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