LA County Homeless Mortality Rate Decreases For The First Time

Palmdale, CA.- The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health today released its seventh annual report on mortality among people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County, showing a reduction in deaths in 2024 for the first time since tracking the homeless mortality rate began in 2014.

In 2024, the most recent year of data analyzed for the report, there were 2,208 deaths among people experiencing homelessness—300 fewer than in 2023—and the mortality rate decreased by 10% from 3,326 deaths per 100,000 people to 2,994 deaths per 100,000 people. The rate decreased among male and female people experiencing homelessness, and among Black and White people experiencing homelessness, but remained stable among Latinx people experiencing homelessness. The mortality rate was 4.2 times greater among people experiencing homelessness when compared to LA County’s population, down slightly from 4.4 times greater in 2023.

The recent decrease followed a two-year plateau in the mortality rate from 2021-2023, which was preceded by a devastating 56% increase from 2019-2021. The overall decrease in 2024 was driven largely by a 21% decrease in drug overdose mortality among people experiencing homelessness. Overdose prevention, harm reduction and mental health and substance use treatment services likely contributed to the decrease in overdose mortality. Heart disease and homicide mortality also decreased in 2024, but traffic injury and suicide mortality both increased.   

“This report shows that when we invest in prevention, care, and strong collaboration across our County, we can save lives,” said Los Angeles County Board Chair and First District Supervisor Hilda L. Solis. “While this is important progress, we cannot lose sight of the fact that far too many people are still dying while experiencing homelessness. Every life lost is a tragedy for our communities. I am especially concerned that Latina/e/o/x residents experiencing homelessness are not seeing the same improvements reflected in this data. That reality tells us County departments must continue working together to strengthen our outreach, health services, and housing efforts so they reach those who remain most at risk.”

"Housing paired with the services people need saves lives. This report shows that when communities invest in prevention, housing, health care, and compassionate outreach, real progress is possible. While the decline in deaths among people experiencing homelessness is encouraging, our work is far from over. Now is not the time for the federal government to disinvest from proven strategies that help end homelessness. We must continue strengthening collaboration, protecting critical funding, and expanding services to prevent people from perishing on our streets and to ensure everyone has the support they need to find and maintain stable housing," said Second DistrictSupervisor Holly J. Mitchell. 

“Six lives lost every day is not just a statistic — it’s a heartbreak. 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,” said Third District Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath. “This progress shows that prevention, housing, and services work. As federal and state funding cuts loom, we must be more coordinated and innovative than ever, stretching every dollar to protect lives and accelerate progress.”

“For years we saw the number of people dying on our streets rise, so this first decrease in deaths is an important sign,” said Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn. “I hope it represents a turning point because this work is far from over. We need to do better, and this year we are going to need to be creative because I worry that cuts in federal funding will put this fragile progress at risk.”

“While this decrease in mortality is encouraging, even one life lost is too many," said Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger. "I am hopeful this trend will continue now that our County has established its Department of Homeless Services and Housing, focusing on support services that truly make a difference. Expanding substance use treatment and recovery programs remains central to helping people experiencing homelessness rebuild safe, stable, and lasting lives.”

“Each unhoused person that loses their life was someone’s child, sibling and loved one and I send my deepest condolences to their loved one. 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 is leading to fewer tragic deaths,” said Barbara Ferrer, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Ed., Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. “However, we need to continue to work hard, especially during these challenging times, because we still see too many people dying on our streets. At a time of major reductions in federal and state funding for homeless services and supports, we are at risk of losing precious ground and seeing an increase in the number of vulnerable people losing their lives.”

Leading Causes of Death

Drug Overdose

Drug and alcohol overdose continued to be the leading cause of death among unhoused individuals in 2024, accounting for 40% of all deaths—down from 45% in 2023. Age-adjusted overdose mortality decreased by 29% among Black people experiencing homelessness, 27% among White people experiencing homelessness and 11% among Latinx people experiencing homelessness. Men and Women had similar decreases. Overdose mortality decreased among all age-groups except 65+, and the decrease was greatest among 18-24-year-olds.  The overdose mortality rate was 46 times greater among people experiencing homelessness than in the LA County population—up from 41 times greater in 2023—because the reduction in overdose mortality was greater in LA County as a whole than among people experiencing homelessness specifically.  

Coronary Heart Disease

The second leading cause of death continues to be coronary heart disease (CHD), accounting for 14% of deaths among people experiencing homelessness in 2024. The CHD mortality rate decreased by 12%. Age-adjusted CHD mortality decreased by 28% among White people experiencing homelessness and by 20% among Black people experiencing homelessness but increased by 8% among Latinx people experiencing homelessness. Age-adjusted CHD mortality decreased by 15% among men and 6% among women. The CHD mortality rate was 5.7 times greater among people experiencing homelessness than in the LA County population—similar to the difference in 2023.

Transportation-related injuries

Traffic injury remained the third leading cause of death among people experiencing homelessness, accounting for 11% of deaths in 2024. Over 95% of these deaths continued to occur among pedestrians and cyclists. After a two-year plateau, the traffic injury mortality rate increased by 25% to 315 deaths per 100,000 people—almost double the rate reported in 2019—the only year the rate decreased since we began tracking the data. The age-adjusted traffic injury mortality rate decreased by 15% among Black people experiencing homelessness and 10% among White people experiencing homelessness but increased by 61% among Latinx people experiencing homelessness. Traffic injury mortality was 24 times greater among people experiencing homelessness than in the LA County population, up from 18 times greater in 2023.

Homicide

Homicide, still the fourth leading cause of death among people experiencing homelessness, accounted for 5% of deaths in 2024. The homicide rate decreased by an additional 13% after a 25% decrease in 2023. Homicide mortality decreased by 25% among Latinx people experiencing homelessness but increased by 27% among Black people experiencing homelessness and by 10% among White people experiencing homelessness. There was no change in homicide mortality among men, but women saw a 56% decrease in homicide mortality. The homicide mortality rate was 14 times greater among people experiencing homelessness than in the LA County population, down from 16 times greater in 2023, and the smallest difference since we began comparing people experiencing homelessness mortality to LA County population mortality.

Suicide

The rate of suicide, still the fifth leading cause of death, increased by 21% in 2024 after remaining relatively stable over the previous five years. The overall increase was largely driven by White people experiencing homelessness, men, and those aged 18-34. Though relatively small in number, people experiencing homelessness aged 65+ also experienced a spike in their rate of suicide mortality in 2024. Suicide mortality was 13 times greater among people experiencing homelessness than in the LA County population, up from 8 times greater in 2023.   

How the Report was Developed

These annual reports use data from the Los Angeles County Office of the Medical Examiner and California state death records to estimate numbers of deaths among people experiencing homelessness, as well as data from the annual LA County point-in-time homeless count and demographic survey to estimate numbers of people experiencing homelessness and their demographic characteristics. The next report, to be released in early 2027, will include data through 2025.

This year’s report is the first to organize the data around six key indicators designed to move us toward our vision of “A safer, healthier Los Angeles County, where people experiencing homelessness have dignity and access to the services and supports they need for health and well-being on their journey toward housing stability.”  

Recommendations

In collaboration with other County departments, community partners, and people with lived experience, Public Health recommends specific actions to help reduce the disproportionate burden of mortality among unhoused individuals. For each action, the report identifies key partners and the roles they can play in implementation. The recommended actions are organized by the six key indicators, which include the all-cause mortality rate and mortality rates for each of the five leading causes of death. Below are a few examples of the recommended actions included in the report.  

Key Indicator #1: Reduce the All-Cause Mortality Rate Among People Experiencing Homelessness

1. Ensure access to affordable housing and health insurance.

Key Indicator #2: Reduce the Drug Overdose Mortality Rate Among People Experiencing Homelessness

1. Ensure that housing options for people experiencing homelessness support harm reduction, overdose prevention and substance use treatment goals.

2. Expand and extend harm reduction and overdose prevention services wherever people experiencing homeless are located.

3. Sustain and expand access to clinically effective addiction medication services for people experiencing homelessness.

Key Indicator #3: Reduce the Coronary Heart Disease Mortality Rate Among People Experiencing Homelessness

1. Sustain and expand comprehensive primary and preventive care services for people experiencing homelessness.

2. Expedite and facilitate unhoused patients’ access to cardiac testing, medications, procedures and care.

Key Indicator #4: Reduce the Traffic Injury Mortality Rate Among People Experiencing Homelessness

1. Conduct a more detailed analysis of 2024 traffic injury deaths among people experiencing homelessness to inform preventive policy, program, and/or infrastructure interventions.

Key Indicator #5: Reduce the Homicide Mortality Rate Among People Experiencing Homelessness

1. Sustain and expand violence prevention and intervention services for people experiencing homelessness within Trauma Prevention Initiative (TPI) communities.

Key Indicator #6: Reduce the Suicide Mortality Rate Among People Experiencing Homelessness

1. Provide Outreach and Engagement, Risk Assessment, Treatment, and Postvention Response Services to People Experiencing Homelessness

To view the full report online, visit:

http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/chie/