Conducted once each year, the annual one-night count offers a "point-in-time" census of homeless people in King County. The total gives homeless planners, government officials, and advocates a snapshot of those in need.

Download: 2007 One Night Count Report (PDF)

Highlights from the 2007 Report

• Areas counted in 2007: Street counts from portions of Seattle, Shoreline, Kent, White Center and East King County, and a survey of homeless shelters and transitional programs throughout King County.
• Number of homeless individuals in King County: 7,839 individuals. The survey found 5,680 people in shelters and transitional programs and 2,159 people surviving outside without shelter. Many more were not counted, either because they were hidden from volunteer counters, are living unsheltered in areas of the county not included in the count, or are homeless but staying with friends and family. Over the course of a year, it is estimated that over 24,000 people will experience an episode of homelessness.
• Geographic breakdown: Over 79 percent of homeless people counted in the shelter survey reported their last permanent address having been within King County. No data is available from the street count. Permanent address is defined as a place occupied for at least two months prior to the latest episode of homelessness, and excluding shelter and transitional housing. The breakdown was:

  57% Seattle
  12% Outside of Washington State
  11% South King County
  9% Washington (outside of King County)
  7% East King County
  4% North King County

• Household composition: The shelter survey reports the following household breakdown:

  25% single adult men
  10% single adult women
  65% families with children*
  1% youth

  * Children aged 0-17 make up 31 percent of the total count of people living in shelters in King County. Young adults aged 18-25 are a growing segment of the homeless population, and make up 11 percent of the shelter population (included as a segment of the single adult figures above.

• Disproportionality: People of color are significantly over-represented in the homeless population. While people of color comprise approximately 27 percent of the general population in King County (2000 Census) they are known to make up at least 57 percent of all people who are homeless.
• Domestic violence: 1,098 people accessing shelter and transitional programs reported they had experienced violence or abuse in the past year. Just over half of these people (589) were adults (almost all of whom were women) and 509 were children.
• Working Poor: For many people, lack of affordable housing causes them to be homeless. Six percent of emergency shelter residents and twenty percent of transitional housing residents surveyed reported that their main source of income was employment.

The One Night Count is coordinated by the Seattle-King County Coalition for the Homeless, with funding support from the Committee to End Homelessness in King County.

You can help

Volunteer for the One Night Count

The annual count employs hundreds of volunteers in cities and neighborhoods in King County who walk during the very early morning hours to count the numbers of people found on the streets, under bridges and freeway underpasses, sleeping in cars, and riding the buses all night. The census also includes a one-night count of people found in local area shelters and transitional housing facilities. Volunteer for the One Night Count (external).