The number of California students experiencing homelessness has risen 10% since the 2018-19 school year, reaching a record 298,254 students in 2024-25, according to a UCLA report released Wednesday.
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Southern California is home to seven of the 10 school districts with the highest numbers of students experiencing homelessness, according to the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools.
The report, “State of Crisis 2026: A Deepening Crisis of Students Experiencing Homelessness Across California,” examined state Department of Education data from the 2017-18 through 2024-25 school years.
Researchers analyzed homeless student enrollment along with suspension, chronic absenteeism, academic achievement, graduation and college-going data.
Black and American Indian/Alaska Native students consistently experienced the highest and fastest-growing rates of homelessness, according to the report. In the 2024-25 school year, about one in 12 Black students and American Indian/Alaska Native students in California experienced homelessness.
Researchers said racial disparities in student homelessness have persisted and widened over time.
While Southern California had seven of the 10 school districts with the highest numbers of homeless students, Northern California and the Central Coast accounted for most of the 10 counties with the highest rates of student homelessness.
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Central Coast elementary school districts also accounted for half of the 10 school districts with the highest rates of students experiencing homelessness, according to the report.
Researchers found that students experiencing homelessness continued to trail their housed peers in all educational outcomes examined, including chronic absenteeism, suspension rates, academic proficiency, graduation and college-going rates.
“These numbers are particularly concerning given the extensive evidence documenting the harmful effects of housing instability on children’s development, health and educational outcomes,” said Grace Kim, a research analyst at the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools and lead author of the report. “The report makes clear that student homelessness is not only a housing issue, but a complex educational and developmental crisis requiring sustained, coordinated public action.”
The report noted that California recently approved a one-time $116 million budget allocation aimed at identifying K-12 students experiencing homelessness and supporting their educational success.
“This new funding is the largest dedicated state funding to prioritize housing-insecure youth in the country,” said Joseph Bishop, executive director of the Center for the Transformation of Schools and an author of the report. “We look forward to working with our state’s policymakers and educators to ensure that California’s most housing-insecure students have an equitable opportunity to succeed. Our hope is that this new research can serve as a roadmap for prevention and systems change.”
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