Housing experiences
Exploring unhoused Angelenos’ living situations and interactions with the housing system
Last data pull: July, 2026
This page describes the housing experiences of PATHS participants, exploring where participants sleep, how their housing situations evolve over time, their experiences accessing shelter and housing, and what they want in a place to call home.
About these data
- Sample. Analyses on this page uses the PATHS representative sample. See the Who participates page for details.
- Missing responses. Responses of “prefer not to answer” or “don’t know” are left out of each percentage, so the share is out of people who answered.
- Small groups. To avoid percentages based on very few people, time points and groups with too few responses are not shown. Each chart’s notes give the cutoff.
At a glance
- Where people sleep. In the most recent month, 64% of participants were unsheltered, 16% were in a shelter, 12% were doubled up, in a hotel they paid for, or in an institution, and 8% were in their own home.
- Month to month. Of participants who were unsheltered in one month, 89% were still unsheltered the next month. 4% had moved into a shelter and 1% into their own home. Of those in a shelter, 17% were unsheltered the following month.
- Connection to the housing system. When they enrolled, 57% of participants were not on a housing waitlist and had never been offered housing while unhoused in LA.
- Housing offers. In a typical month, 10% of participants said an outreach or government worker had offered them housing in the past 30 days. The type offered most often was “Temporary stay in a motel/hotel-like setting” (included in 26% of offers).
- What people want. The housing options participants were most interested in were “Supportive housing” (57%) and “Temporary stay in a motel/hotel-like setting” (56%). By comparison, 5% were interested in congregate shelter, which was included in 20% of offers. The barriers to accepting shelter or housing cited most often were “Lack of privacy” (57%) and “Unsafe” (53%).
Where people sleep
Where participants spent the night, broken out into unsheltered (including sleeping rough, in a tent, or in a vehicle), sheltered, staying doubled up with family or friends, a hotel the person paid for themselves, an institution, and their own home.
Most recent month
Hover over a bar to see the breakdown by race, sex, and age.
People in an institution (e.g. a hospital or jail) are counted in the total but not shown as a separate bar because there are very few of them, so the bars add up to slightly less than 100%.
Over time
Share of participants in each situation, by calendar quarter. Because new participants keep joining the study, some of the change over time reflects who has recently joined, not only changes in people’s circumstances. Quarters with fewer than 20 responses are not shown, and a quarter appears only once all three of its months are in the data.
Unsheltered situations by area
Among participants who were unsheltered, the share sleeping rough, in a tent, or in a vehicle, by year, in each of LA County’s eight Service Planning Areas (SPAs). Each bar adds up to 100% of unsheltered survey responses in that area and year; bars with fewer than 10 responses are not shown. Hover for percentages in each SPA and year.
Month-to-month transitions
How often does someone’s housing situation change from one month to the next? Each chart compares a participant’s situation in one monthly survey with their situation in the next one, from 2023 onward. Situations are grouped into four categories: unsheltered, sheltered, precariously housed (doubled up with family or friends, in a hotel the person paid for, or in an institution), and own home. For changes over a longer period, see Trajectories over the first year.
Of participants who were unsheltered in one month, 89% were still unsheltered the next month. The right panel shows where the rest went. The two panels use different scales. Hover for percentages.
Of participants who were in a shelter in one month, 74% were still in a shelter the next month. The right panel shows where the rest went. The two panels use different scales. Hover for percentages.
Trajectories over the first year
Month-to-month changes shows how often things change from one month to the next. This section looks at the bigger picture: where participants started, every situation they passed through, and where they were after their first 12 months in the study. It includes participants who completed at least 6 monthly surveys in that time.
How to read it. The left column shows where people were when they enrolled, and the right column shows where they were at the end of the year. The middle column shows every situation each person was in at some point during the year. Someone who moved between situations is counted in each one, so the middle column adds up to more than the total number of people. Numbers are counts of people.
The same diagram, with shelter split into congregate shelter (emergency shelter or rec center) and non-congregate shelter (bridge or transitional housing, motel or hotel, small house, tiny home).
Participants who were sleeping in a vehicle when they enrolled.
Participants who were unsheltered but not in a vehicle (for example, sleeping outside or in a tent) when they enrolled.
Connection to the housing system
How connected were participants to the housing system when they joined the study? Each participant falls into one of three groups:
- On waitlist: currently on a housing waitlist
- Offered, not on waitlist: not on a waitlist, but has been offered housing at some point while homeless in LA
- Not on waitlist, not offered: neither
Shelter & housing offers
Unlike the section above, this is a monthly measure assess during follow-up. In each monthly survey, participants are asked whether an outreach or government worker offered them housing in the past 30 days, and if so, what kind. The survey began asking this in October 2023. Percentages are shares of monthly surveys. Offers made during encampment sweeps are covered on the Encampment sweeps page.
How often people are offered housing
In any given month, 10% of participants reported being offered housing by an outreach or government worker in the past 30 days. The rate went from 15% in the first six months the question was asked to 8% in the most recent six months.
Share of monthly surveys in which the participant reported a housing offer in the past 30 days, by quarter (15,250 surveys). Larger points mean more surveys that quarter, and the solid line shows the overall trend. Boxed labels show the rate in the first six and most recent six months.
Types of housing offered
When participants were offered housing, what kind was it?
Based on 1,598 monthly surveys in which a participant reported a housing offer. One offer can include more than one type, so shares add up to more than 100%.
What participants want
What participants said they would want, what they would need for a placement to work, and what keeps them from accepting shelter or housing, assessed at enrollment. People could choose more than one answer, so percentages add up to more than 100%.
Which housing or shelter options would participants be interested in receiving?
What features of housing or shelter would participants need to make a placement workable for them?
What participants identified as barriers to accepting shelter or housing offers.