Homelessness Is Dropping Across the U.S., but Oregon’s Numbers Keep Climbing Amid Evictions and High Rents

While homelessness is declining across the US, it is escalating in Oregon as costs increase and evictions rise.

Homelessness In Oregon Does Not Compare With National Numbers

A recent article in the New York Times suggests that homelessness in the US is declining, for the first time in eight years. The data were gathered from local homelessness counts, but Oregon’s counts reflect a 35% increase since 2023, bucking the national trend.

The Times report, using US Department of Housing and Urban Development data from two-thirds of the locales responsible for completing the counts- including Oregon- found that homelessness declined by 7% in those geographical regions between 2024 and 2025.

Oregon’s recent Point-In-Time Count shows Oregon homelessness is growing faster than the state’s shelter expansion.

While Oregon did not conduct a complete count in 2024, available data between 2023 and 2025 confirms that homelessness is on the rise.

The 2025 PIT count recorded 27,119 people who were homeless in the state on the single night in January. Increased evictions, rising rents, and improvements in data collection methods have contributed to the higher total in 2025.

In the Times report, Kentucky, Utah, Philadelphia, and San Antonio, Texas showed continued increases in homelessness. Chicago, Denver, Washington, D.C., Maine, Minnesota, and Florida all saw declines in their homelessness counts between 2024 and 2025.

Separate reports have suggested that Washington also saw a rise in homelessness in 2025, while California saw a 4.5% decline.

While experts suggest that any given region’s count is lower than the actual number of people who are homeless in that area, the Point-In-Time Count numbers, considered the most reliable- are critical as they are the basis for receiving federal homeless services funding.

Communities have long relied on this funding, which is now under threat from the Trump administration.

Evictions In Oregon Contributing To Homelessness

Oregon’s continued climb in homelessness numbers coincides with a sharp increase in eviction filings and court-ordered removals in the state in 2025.

The housing shortage has put tenants at a disadvantage as landlords pursue faster resolutions amid high rents and reduced tenant protections, directly pushing more households onto the streets or into doubled-up situations.

In 2024, Oregon eviction filings totaled about 27,300, with monthly filings rising to nearly 2,400 in early 2025, according to state legislative data tracking landlord-tenant cases.

These judgments often happen at speed: roughly 5,500 Oregon eviction cases ended in a judgment of eviction in 2024, with more than half decided by default, meaning tenants were removed after failing to respond or appear in court.