Black people are disproportionately found on California’s streets — roughly 22% of homeless Californians are Black, according to HUD, compared with about 5% of the state’s population. Why? A legacy of racial discrimination in rental housing, higher rates of poverty among Black families, the highest incidence of rent burden, and overrepresentation in the state’s incarceration and child welfare systems all contribute.

And homeless Californians are getting older. Nearly half of all single homeless adults in California are 50 or older, according to a recent study from the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. Many of them are ending up on the streets for the first time: 41% of older homeless adults became homeless for the first time after age 50. 

That poses challenges in providing aid, as many older homeless adults have chronic illness and disabling conditions that require special care. Being homeless is extremely bad for one’s health, and UCSF researchers found that homeless residents in their 50s and 60s more closely resemble people 20 years older. 

Homeless Californians also are more likely to have experienced domestic violence (24% according to state data on people who accessed homelessness services in 2024) or be disabled (49%).