King County’s homeless population growth slows, but lack of housing, drug use persist

(The Center Square) – As the homeless population continues to rise in the Seattle metro area, a lack of available housing and permissive drug use is making the problem even worse.

King County’s homeless population grew by 9% over the last two years, according to the latest Point-In-Time count data released by the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.

The KCRHA snapshot estimates the total number of people experiencing homelessness in the region, anchored by Seattle, is now 18,365, up from 16,868 in 2024.

The pace of growth, however, slowed from 2022 to 2024, a fact that KCHRA officials attributed to evidence of progress, even though they say much remains to be done.

“While homelessness continues to grow, this increase is substantially smaller than the 26 percent increase observed between 2022 and 2024,” KCHRA said in Read Entire Article