Homelessness 101: What do all the numbers mean?
Communications Admin • July 18, 2018
Data plays an integral part of the day-to-day operations at the Coalition for the Homeless and drives our decision making activities as lead agency to The Way Home. The Coalition also manages the Homeless Management Information System
(HMIS). HMIS is a database that captures client information over time on the characteristics of and services used by individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
Data is entered into HMIS by direct service providers and is used by those same agencies to generate reports about services and number of clients served; the Coalition uses HMIS to produce system wide reports and analysis about our performance as a community.
Because of all of this data collection, there are a lot of different counts and numbers that the Coalition uses and releases – but what do they all mean?
In particular, there are two different counts shown on our website. One of those numbers is the annual Homeless Count & Survey total, which is a “snapshot” of the homeless population in the Houston region on a given night. The other number is an annual number that shows how many people use homeless or homeless-related services over the course of a year. These two counts are very different and are used to tell us unique information.
Homeless Count & Survey
The annual Homeless Count & Survey is coordinated by the Coalition every January and tells us how many people are experiencing literal homelessness on a single night, whether that is in an emergency shelter or somewhere not meant for human habitation. Hundreds of staff members from partner agencies of The Way Home canvass across Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery Counties, looking for individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness; while emergency shelters submit their information on sheltered individuals through HMIS.
In 2018, the total number of people experiencing literal homelessness on a single night was 4,143 across our three-county geography. We know that this number is not perfect – we might be missing some people in our count, or we could be over-counting. However, we collect our Homeless Count data in the same way, at the same time each year, and allows us to compare the data from year-to-year and look at trends over time. Homeless Count data can answer questions like, “Is our overall homeless population decreasing?” or “Are we still at steady state regarding Veteran homelessness?”
The Annual Count
The larger number on our website is an annual count and shows how many unique individuals access a homeless or related service over the course of a year. In 2017, 37,246 people accessed some type of homeless or homeless-related service according to our HMIS. These services could have been anything from permanent housing and case management to food pantry services or job training.
This does not necessarily mean that all 37,000 people experienced literal homelessness in 2017, though some of them were and were entered in HMIS as receiving street outreach services or emergency shelter stays. Some of those individuals may have received homeless prevention services such as emergency rental assistance. Also, people who are enrolled in Permanent Supportive Housing through The Way Home may receive regular services like case management or healthcare visits for the rest of their lives.
This annual number is really important since it shows us not just literal homelessness, but also how many people might find themselves facing housing or economic uncertainty in a given year. Also, the total number of individuals accessing homeless services increased from 2016 to 2017, and this trend will most likely continue as more programs and services continue to become available in our community.
The Coalition believes in using data to drive our decisions when it comes to solving homelessness in the Houston region. We hope this educational blog post has helped clarify the differences between two of our most well-known counts! Visit the Local Data and Research section of our website for more information.
Houston, Texas (February 24, 2026) – This week, the nonprofit Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County (CFTH) is leading the annual Point-in-Time Homeless Count & Survey (“PIT Count”) to determine the number of people experiencing homelessness across Houston and throughout Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties. “We may see a slight uptick in the number this year, but we have a plan,” said Kelly Young, President & CEO of CFTH. “With the support of the City of Houston, Harris County, and private funders, we have been piloting new interventions to shorten the length of time people in our region experience homelessness. With adequate funding, we look forward to expanding those interventions to help people regain lives of self-determination.” CFTH coordinates the Houston region’s public-private homeless response system, The Way Home . Through this collaboration, The Way Home partners have successfully housed over 36,000 people since 2012. CFTH will release the results of Houston’s 2026 PIT Count in the summer, following independent verification by an epidemiologist. These findings will provide insight into how factors such as increases in the cost of living and the end of federal pandemic relief funding have impacted homelessness in our region. More information about the 2026 Point-in-Time Homeless Count & Survey The PIT Count offers a snapshot of how many people are experiencing homelessness in our region on a single night. This year, the “night of record” is Monday, Feb. 23. CFTH determines the number of people staying in shelters on that night by pulling records electronically from the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) . The unsheltered count will be conducted on the following days, from Tuesday, Feb. 24 to Thursday, Feb. 26. More than 400 volunteers and staff of local nonprofit service provider partners will canvass the three-county region to survey people living unsheltered, using an app on their mobile devices. Results from the 2026 PIT Count will help gauge the progress of The Way Home’s ongoing collaborative efforts. It will also help CFTH and partner homeless outreach teams understand geographic shifts and target their outreach throughout the year. The PIT Count illuminates specific programmatic gaps and provides additional information needed to allocate resources most efficiently. The PIT Count is a requirement of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) for the annual Continuum of Care (CoC) funding process. HUD furnishes the majority of funding for programs that provide housing and supportive services to people experiencing homelessness in the region. In 2024, HUD granted more than $71 million to the Houston area.
As lead agency to The Way Home Continuum of Care (CoC), CFTH is working with local governmental entities to advocate on behalf of people experiencing homelessness to ensure their needs are being considered as winter weather affects our region. We will make frequent updates as we receive information. Please check back often for the latest information. Last updated 02/01/2026 at 12:00 p.m.
While our system has helped thousands of people move from homelessness to housing, this year’s results highlight the need to broaden our approach.
