The Central Coast leads California in homeless students

August 29, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

The California Central Coast leads in percentages of homeless students.

With 16% of its students unhoused, Monterey County is ranked number one followed by Santa Barbara County with 12.1% of homeless students. At 9.1%, San Luis Obispo is ranked fifth for its large number of homeless students.

Statewide, California saw a 9% increase in homeless students during the 2024-2025 school year, according to EdSource.

For three years, from fiscal year 2019-2020 through fiscal year 2021-2022, homeless student numbers in California declined approximately 6% per year.

Then in fiscal year 2022-2023, the number of homeless student began increasing:

• Fiscal year 2022-2023 – a 9.08% increase
• Fiscal year 2023-2024 – a 12.61% increase
• Fiscal year 2024-2025 – a 9.26% increase

Throughout California, higher costs of living lead to a larger number of homeless students