Culver City Staff and Stakeholders conduct 2025 Homeless Count

Culver City conducted its 2025 Homeless Count Thursday night as part of a broader effort to understand the gravity of the housing crisis in the Los Angeles area. Staff and stakeholders canvassed around Culver City in cars starting at 8:30 p.m. to observe the number of unhoused residents on Culver City streets, finishing before midnight.

The numbers gathered Thursday night need to be certified and will likely not be released to the public for several months. Last year's numbers were released to the public in late June.

Initially scheduled for January, the count was delayed until Thursday to coincide with the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority (LAHSA) Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, which was postponed due to the impacts of the recent wildfires on the area.

These homeless counts, called point-in-time counts, are conducted early in the morning and/or late at night to capitalize on when people are most likely to be resting and/or stationary. While volunteers help with the count in many cities, city staff and stakeholders involved in the well-being of unhoused residents conducted the count in Culver City.

"Thursday's count will inform us how our services are impacting people," Director of Housing and Human Services Tevis Barnes, whose department was among those that participated in Thursday's count, said in a statement.

In addition to staff from Culver City's Housing and Human Services Department, members of the Culver City Fire Department and the Culver City Police Department, the Advisory Committee on Housing and Homeless Services, Urban Alchemy, Mobile Crisis Team, City Manager's Office, and members of the City Council assisted in cataloging unhoused residents on Culver City streets.

The city's numbers are sent to the Los Angeles Housing Services Authority (LAHSA) to be included in the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, which generally happens over a three-day period in phases based on location. Thursday's Greater Los Angeles Count included cities in West Los Angeles, Antelope Valley, South Los Angeles, and the South Bay/Harbor.

While it could be several months before the numbers are certified, there is hope that the number of unhoused residents in Culver City will continue the trend it started several years ago. Several programs and laws have been implemented since the city first declared a Local Emergency on Homelessness in January 2023 to help reduce the number of unhoused people living on Culver City streets.

The 2024 count showed that 115 unhoused people were in Culver City, a 32% decrease from the 158 counted in 2023 and a 66% decrease from the 229 counted in 2022. The number of sheltered unhoused residents significantly increased — from 38 in 2023 to 164 as of July 1, 2024 — with new projects like the Wellness Village and the Project Homekey site opened at the former Deano's and Sunburst Motels providing those beds.

"While we're hopeful the numbers continue to show fewer people on our streets, we remain committed to our mission of helping our Culver City unhoused individuals," Barnes said.

This decrease in the unhoused population comes in the face of increases seen in nearby cities like Santa Monica (+6%), Beverly Hills (+9%), and Malibu (+65%). It is much larger than what is seen overall in Los Angeles County, with 2024's count of 75,312 unhoused residents marginally less than 2023's total of 75,518 after seeing a 9% increase in homelessness from 2022.

Culver City falls within Los Angeles County Service Planning District 5, the West Los Angeles District. The District — which includes Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Ladera, Malibu, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Pacific Palisades, Palms, Playa del Rey, Santa Monica, Venice, West LA, Westchester, and Westwood — saw an almost 20% drop in the unhoused population from 2023 to 2024.

More information on Culver City's homeless efforts can be found on the Homelessness Dashboard here.