The number of people experiencing homelessness on the neighbor islands decreased slightly between 2024 and 2026, according to data released Wednesday.

Over the course of six days in January, volunteers and nonprofit workers in Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi and Maui counties identified 1,863 people sleeping in shelters and transitional housing, camping in cars and tents, and living in other unsheltered conditions — a 2% dip from the last count.

All three counties have seen a dramatic decrease in the number of families experiencing homelessness over the past eight years. Results of the count on Oʻahu are expected to be released on May 20.

Though stakeholders working to end homelessness hailed those numbers as a positive sign, the latest homelessness count also points to some troubling trends: More people with severe mental illness, a jump in the number of homeless veterans and a 40% increase in the number of unsheltered homeless on Maui. 

The Point-in-Time Count is a federally mandated effort to tally the number of people experiencing homelessness — be it sleeping on the streets, in cars or shelters — on a single night. Hawaiʻi counties had been conducting the count every year for more than a decade, but last year scaled back the census to people sleeping in shelters, making this the first full accounting of the homeless population since 2024.

The unsheltered count also didn’t happen in 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The full count is required at least every two years to be eligible for federal funding. 

Volunteers conducting the census on the neighbor islands make it their mission to identify vulnerable people in the most difficult-to-reach places. 

“Volunteers trekked into remote lava fields, dense brush, hidden gulches and rugged coastline areas far from the public eye,” Bridging The Gap, a coalition of agencies that conducts the census, said in a press release.

Well over three-quarters of the homeless population in Kauaʻi County is unsheltered, meaning they rest their heads in places such as cars, parks or beaches. 

On the Big Island, the unsheltered population accounts for about two-thirds of people experiencing homelessness. 

In Maui County, people who are unsheltered make up about 60% of the homeless population, according to the count. But that number went up as shelter utilization – the rate of people sleeping in shelters or transitional housing units – dropped significantly, although it’s unclear why.

The number of people who spent the night in a shelter or transitional housing decreased by 116 compared to 2024. Just shy of 400 people were sleeping rough in Maui County on the night of Jan. 25 this year, when the count was taken.  

Hawaiʻi and Kauaʻi counties, on the other hand, saw a decrease in the unsheltered population with a greater proportion of people seeking out a shelter bed.

Across all three counties, the unsheltered population with serious mental illness reached nearly 500 people – an 18% increase from 2018. That is short of a peak in 2023, when that number reached 619. In Kauaʻi County, the number of unsheltered folks with serious mental illness more than doubled from 2018 to 2026. 

The number of families with children who are experiencing homelessness has dramatically decreased by more than 40% since 2018, according to the latest count.  

“These are positive signs that consistent, intentional efforts over time to reduce homelessness can be effective,” reads the Bridging The Gap press release. 

Still, more than 120 families were homeless on the night of Jan. 25 across the three counties, according to the latest count. About 30% — 38 families with a total of 76 kids —  were unsheltered. In Kauaʻi County, 73 children were living in shelters, cars or elsewhere – more than double a low of 35 kids in 2022. 

Hawaiʻi County asked families what factors contributed to their homelessness. Two said they had been evicted, one said there was a family or relationship conflict and two cited inability to afford rent or secure affordable housing. Most said that financial assistance and help securing housing would help their families stabilize their housing situations. 

The number of homeless veterans increased by almost 20% in 2026 across the three counties, compared to 2024. The vast majority — 70 out of 88 veterans — were unsheltered. Maui saw a 53% increase in unsheltered veterans compared to 2024 — the largest of any of these counties — with 17 veterans sleeping on the streets.

No veterans were in transitional housing on the day of the count and fewer than 23% — just 18 people — were sleeping in emergency shelters, according to the count.