King County’s Latest Point-in-Time Count shows thousands of people leave homelessness each year, but even more continue to fall into it
When the King County Regional Homelessness Authority released its 2026 Point-in-Time Count yesterday, many people saw one headline: Homelessness is increasing.
Some will use those numbers to argue that our current response has failed. But the data tells a different, more nuanced, story.
The Point-in-Time Count measures the number of people experiencing homelessness on a single night in King County. Look beyond that snapshot, however, and a paradox emerges: Thousands of people are successfully exiting homelessness every year, while even more are falling into it.
That distinction matters because it shows that we know how to help people exit homelessness — we do it every day.
In 2025, more than 10,800 people in King County either moved into or remained successfully housed in permanent supportive housing. At DESC, we permanently housed more than 2,000 formerly chronically homeless individuals and served more than 6,500 people across our programs. And our housing outcomes speak for themselves: 98% of our tenants remained housed for at least one year, and 83% remained housed for five years or longer.
Those are not the outcomes of an approach that isn’t working.
So why does homelessness continue to rise?
Because more people are falling into homelessness than we are able to pull out.
Each year, approximately 17,000 people exit the homelessness response system in King County. But approximately 18,000 people enter homelessness.
That is the story behind the numbers.
Every year, housing providers are helping thousands of people find stability, recover from crisis, connect with healthcare, and rebuild their lives. But at the same time, even more people are being pushed into housing instability by a housing market that has become increasingly unaffordable. When personal factors such as profound disabling conditions and low fixed incomes are layered on top of those economic factors, homelessness affects more vulnerable people disproportionately.
The problem isn’t that we don’t know how to solve homelessness.
The problem is that we don’t have enough of the solutions.
Imagine trying to empty an overflowing bathtub with a cup while the faucet is running full blast. No matter how quickly you scoop, the water continues to rise. That’s what homelessness response systems in high-cost areas are experiencing today. The cup is housing, shelter, outreach, and support services – our homelessness response system. The faucet is housing affordability.
In King County, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment is more than $2,100 per month. Meanwhile, a person receiving the maximum federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefit — a program that supports people with disabilities and older adults with limited income — receives just $994 per month. For many people living with severe mental illness, substance use disorders, or other disabilities, the math simply doesn’t work. No amount of personal responsibility can bridge that gap.
That is why permanent supportive housing matters.
Decades of research have consistently shown that supportive housing helps people leave homelessness, stay housed, reduce crisis system involvement, improve health outcomes, and build more stable lives. A recent King County report found that people living in permanent supportive housing were incarcerated 27% less often during their first year in housing and more than 37% less often by their third year.
In total, jail costs average about $362 per person per day — more than $132,000 annually. By comparison, King County estimates operating a permanent supportive housing unit costs approximately $41,000 per year. The contrast is clear: it is far less expensive to provide people with stable housing and supportive services than to leave them cycling through jail.
We should absolutely be paying attention to rising homelessness. But we should draw the right conclusions from it.
If homelessness is increasing while thousands of people are successfully exiting homelessness every year, the answer is not to abandon the strategies that are working.
The answer is to do more of them.
The Point-in-Time Count should not be viewed as evidence of failure. It should be viewed as evidence of unmet need. We know what works. We have the data to prove it. What we lack is enough housing, enough support services, and enough resources to meet the scale of the need.
Despite the headlines, the fundamental truth remains unchanged: Homelessness is solvable. The question is whether we are willing to invest in the solutions at the scale the crisis demands.
Read how supportive housing is changing lives at DESC: Tammy’s Story: Finding Safety at DESC