Oklahoma City homelessness count falls 1% in first decline since 2022
Oklahoma City recorded its first year-over-year decline in overall homelessness since 2022, with 1,867 people counted during the city’s 2026 Point-in-Time Count on Jan. 23.
The total was 1% lower than the 2025 count, according to the City of Oklahoma City and the Key to Home Partnership. The result reverses a recent pattern of increases, including a 28% jump between 2023 and 2024 and a 2% increase in 2025.
The count is the city’s latest official one-night measure of homelessness. It is used to identify service gaps, plan housing interventions and evaluate the local response system.
What the count found
Unsheltered homelessness accounted for 22% of the people counted in 2026, down from 35% in 2022. The city’s report also said chronic and unsheltered homelessness combined had declined 42% since 2022.
That combined category increased between 2025 and 2026, however, even as the overall count fell. The figures show a mixed picture: the long-term trend has improved in some measures, but significant needs remain among people experiencing chronic or unsheltered homelessness.
The Journal Record reported that 1,178 people in the count were sheltered, 267 were in transitional housing and 440 were classified as chronically homeless.
Among those counted, 39% were female, 59% were male and 2% preferred not to answer. Families with children made up 6% of the total. Seniors age 55 and older represented 22%, unaccompanied youth represented 10% and veterans represented 6%.
Twenty percent of people counted reported a severe mental illness. The racial and ethnic breakdown included 43% who identified as white, 33% Black, 8% American Indian, Alaska Native or Indigenous, 5% Hispanic or Latinx and 3% multiracial and non-Hispanic.
Where the count took place
Teams counted people across Oklahoma City shelters, transitional housing sites, encampments, day centers and meal sites. The Point-in-Time Count is conducted as a one-night snapshot of sheltered and unsheltered homelessness.
That means the 1,867-person total is not a count of every person who experienced homelessness in Oklahoma City during the year. It also does not include people experiencing housing instability or those staying temporarily with friends or relatives, commonly described as couch surfing.
The limitation matters when comparing the annual figures. A one-night count can show conditions at a specific point in time, but it cannot measure the full number of people who move into or out of homelessness over the course of a year.
What comes next
Key to Home’s next priorities include expanding early-intervention services, creating more housing pathways and continuing efforts to rehouse people living in encampments.
The partnership also plans to develop a CARE Team program for people with complex behavioral-health needs and redesign the system supporting families experiencing homelessness.
The new count provides a benchmark for those efforts. The 1% decline is a notable change after several years of increases, but the continued presence of unsheltered and chronic homelessness means the city’s response will remain focused on both housing access and services for people with complex needs.
Sources
- Oklahoma City releases annual 2026 Point-in-Time Count, City of Oklahoma City
- 2026 Point-in-Time Report, Key to Home Partnership and City of Oklahoma City
- Homelessness declines in Oklahoma City, Key to Home says, The Journal Record
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