Definition: Number of unaccompanied children and young adults ages 0-24 found to be homeless during the national point-in-time (PIT) count of homeless individuals, by age group and shelter status (e.g., 193 California children ages 0-17 were found to be homeless and unsheltered during the 2025 PIT count).
Data Source: U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, Point-In-Time Estimates of Homelessness in the U.S. (Aug. 2026).
Footnote: The national PIT count occurs annually on a single night in late January. Unaccompanied youth are neither part of a family with children nor accompanied by a parent or guardian during their episode of homelessness. Sheltered youth are those staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, or safe havens. Unsheltered youth are those whose nighttime residence is a public or private place not designated for, or ordinarily used as, regular sleeping accommodation for people. Continuum of Care (CoC) homeless assistance programs were first required to submit counts of homeless young adults ages 18-24 in 2013. N/A means that data are not available or were not reported specifically for that county or county group. California totals for 2013 and 2014 include all counties but Alpine, Del Norte, Inyo, Lassen, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono, Plumas, Sierra, and Siskiyou, which were not part of any CoC during those years. Data on unsheltered and total unaccompanied homeless youth for 2021—annotated here with an asterisk (*)—are not reported due to a waiver of the requirement that CoCs conduct an unsheltered count that year.
