Fewer people experiencing homelessness died in Los Angeles County in 2024 than in the previous year, marking the first decline since the county began tracking the data more than a decade ago, according to a report released Tuesday by the Department of Public Health.
About 2,208 unhoused residents died in the county in 2024, roughly 300 fewer than the 2,500 reported the previous year, the report found.
The mortality rate among unhoused residents — measured as deaths per 100,000 people — also declined by about 10%.
Health officials attributed part of the decline to drug overdose prevention efforts, including expanded distribution of naloxone, a medication that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. The overdose death rate among unhoused residents dropped by 21% compared with the previous year.
“It is heartening to see that the efforts and strong collaboration of our multi-agency LA County Homeless Mortality Prevention Workgroup and homeless services providers across the County (are) leading to fewer tragic deaths,” Barbara Ferrer, director of the county Department of Public Health, said in a statement. “However, we need to continue to work hard, especially during these challenging times, because we still see too many people dying on our streets.”
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the report highlights the impact of the city’s efforts to move people indoors.
“We have much more to do to save lives and to address encampments and street homelessness in our city, but this report underscores the importance of our strategy to bring people inside,” Bass said. “There is no doubt that Inside Safe, by bringing thousands of people inside and reducing street homelessness by 17.5 percent, has saved lives and helped drive this decline.”
Despite the decrease, an average of about six people experiencing homelessness died each day in L.A. County in 2024. County health officials said unhoused residents still face mortality rates more than four times higher than the general population.
“Six lives lost every day is not just a statistic — it’s a heartbreak,” county Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said. “While I’m encouraged to see a reduction in deaths for the first time in years, we cannot accept a reality where people are dying on our streets.”
Drug overdose remained the leading cause of death among people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County, accounting for about 40% of all deaths in that population.
In 2024, 884 unhoused residents died of drug overdoses, down from 1,140 deaths in 2023, according to the report.
Unhoused residents were 46 times more likely to die of a drug overdose than the general population. The report noted the overdose death rate remains about twice as high as it was in 2019.
Drug and alcohol overdose remained the leading cause of death among people experiencing homelessness in 2024, accounting for 40% of deaths, down from 45% in 2023.
The report said overdose deaths declined across most groups, including a 29% decrease among Black people experiencing homelessness, 27% among White people and 11% among Latinx people.
Rates fell similarly among men and women and across most age groups, with the largest decline among those ages 18-24.
Coronary heart disease remained the second leading cause of death among people experiencing homelessness in L.A. County in 2024, accounting for 14% of deaths, though the mortality rate declined by about 12%, according to the report.
Traffic-related injuries were the third leading cause, making up 11% of deaths and rising sharply after two years of stability — with most fatalities involving pedestrians and cyclists.
Homicides, the fourth leading cause of death, declined for the second consecutive year, while suicides — the fifth leading cause — increased by 21% in 2024 after several years of relatively stable rates, the report said.
Mortality rates from these causes remained significantly higher among people experiencing homelessness than in the general Los Angeles County population, according to the report.