More than 2,200 unhoused people died in Los Angeles in 2024, marking the first time in a decade that the homeless mortality rate decreased in the nation’s most populous county, public health officials announced on Tuesday.
The signs of progress come as the county has also reported decreases in the overall unhoused population in a region that has long struggled with a severe affordable housing shortage and one of the worst street homelessness crises in the US.
The annual report on deaths, however, also indicates a significant, ongoing humanitarian disaster, with an average of more than six unhoused people dying every day across Los Angeles county.
The figures released by LA county’s public health department cover deaths of all residents experiencing homelessness, including those living on the streets and people in shelters.
The 2,208 total deaths counted in 2024, the most recent year of data analyzed by the county, marked 300 fewer deaths than in 2023, with the mortality rate decreasing by 10%, the report said. The county had experienced a devastating surge in deaths of unhoused people during the start of the pandemic, followed by a two-year plateau in the mortality rate from 2021 to 2023. The 2024 data marks the first reduction in deaths since the county started tracking homeless mortality in 2014.
Drug overdoses remained the leading cause of death among unhoused people, with 884 fatalities, accounting for 40% of the 2024 deaths. This, however, marked a 21% decrease in drug overdose mortality from 2023, which was the main driver of the overall reduction in unhoused deaths.
County officials attributed the decline in overdoses to prevention efforts, harm reduction, and mental health and substance use treatment services, though the county as a whole also experienced a sharp decline in overdoses from 2023 to 2024. Unhoused people were 46 times more likely to die of overdoses than the general population, the report noted.
The other leading causes of death of unhoused people were coronary heart disease (314 people, representing 14% of deaths), traffic deaths (232 people, 11%), homicides (105 people, 5%) and suicides (80 people, 4%).
While the mortality rates for heart disease and homicides decreased in 2024, traffic deaths and suicides increased.
The vast majority of traffic deaths were among pedestrians and cyclists, and the rate increased 25%, a significant cause for concern.
The rate of suicides also increased by 21% in 2024, the report said. The 80 deaths marked the highest number of deaths by suicide in the last decade, the county’s data shows, a troubling increase that comes even as the overall number of unhoused people is declining.
A public health spokesperson said the county did not have definitive data on how many of the deaths occurred on the streets versus people in shelter.
Only 25% of the 2024 deaths involved people who were in the county’s case management system, suggesting that the remaining deaths were more likely to be unsheltered people, as they have not interacted with the county’s homeless services in the last two years, the spokesperson said. And of the 25% of deaths for which the county had records, the majority were unsheltered.
The report also noted decreases in mortality among Black and white unhoused people, but steady death rates among Latinos. The data suggests Latinos are more likely not to have contact with the county’s homelessness services, and the report raised concerns that federal immigration enforcement could further push this population underground and exacerbate the crisis.
The report relies on medical examiner reports and state death records and estimates mortality rates based on the annual point-in-time homeless count, which is a snapshot and estimate of the total unhoused population.
The county recommended expanding harm reduction and addiction medication services; increasing primary and preventive care services for unhoused people; conducting a more detailed analysis of traffic deaths; expanding violence prevention initiatives; and providing outreach and risk assessments related to suicidality.
Officials are also sounding the alarm about significant impending budget challenges. For the 2026-27 fiscal year, LA county’s homeless services authority is projecting a gap of roughly $323m dollars in funds for homelessness, the report said.
Barbara Ferrer, the director of LA county’s public health department, praised the progress seen in 2024, but said in a statement: “We still see too many people dying on our streets. At a time of major reductions in federal and state funding for homeless services and supports, we are at risk of losing precious ground and seeing an increase in the number of vulnerable people losing their lives.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
