Mayor Lurie Announces Record-Low Number Of Tent Encampments, Large Vehicles On San Francisco Streets

SAN FRANCISCO – Mayor Daniel Lurie today announced that San Francisco has reached a record-low number of tent encampments on city streets for the fourth time during his administration. The city has also reached a record-low number of large vehicles since the city started counting in 2018, dropping 31% from the last count in February, according to the latest quarterly tent count conducted by the Department of Emergency Management (DEM).

Mayor Lurie also announced new data from the new Rapid Enforcement, Support, Evaluation, and Triage (RESET) Center, which has seen more than 500 admissions in its first month of operations, with nearly one-third accepting a referral to longer-term care. With the RESET Center, San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) officers are getting back on the beat in an average of 19 minutes, much more quickly than in a traditional jail booking process.

San Francisco’s continued progress in addressing homelessness follows data from the 2026 Point in Time (PIT) Count that showed unsheltered homelessness at the lowest levels in 15 years, with an 85% decrease in the number of people living in tents and structures and 1,000 fewer people living on the street than there were in the 2024 count. The data reflect a year and a half of work under Mayor Lurie’s Breaking the Cycle plan to transform the city’s homelessness and behavioral health response. To help get people off the street, Mayor Lurie announced plans in April to consolidate street outreach under the Department of Public Health, building on initial steps last year that helped increase shelter placements by 40%. To get them into shelter and treatment, the city has stood up more than 600 new treatment-focused beds under Mayor Lurie’s leadership while launching a program to help families living in vehicles move into permanent housing. The city also opened a 24/7 police-friendly crisis stabilization center last year at 822 Geary Street, which has shown greater success at connecting people in crisis to care.

“Parents should not have to raise children in an RV or a tent. We’ve made it a priority since day one to get families on the street connected to stable housing, and the data shows clearly that our new strategies are working,” said Mayor Lurie. “But as we drive down the number of tents and vehicles, we are continuing to be relentless in getting help for those in crisis. That’s what the RESET Center is doing, and we will continue to send the message that you cannot deal drugs or do drugs on the street in San Francisco.”

The May 2026 quarterly count found 115 tents and structures across the city—down 53% since Mayor Lurie took office and down more than a quarter from the previous record low of 155 in February 2026. The count also found a total of 259 large vehicles, the lowest number ever recorded and 31% lower than the 374 counted in February.

The record-low number of large vehicles reflects the city’s work to get families living in RVs and other large vehicles into permanent housing with a combination of case management, housing placement, and enforcement. Since the program launched last year, 151 households been placed into more stable environments, including 114 transitioned into housing.

“San Francisco is proving that when outreach workers, clinicians, first responders, and cleaning crews work the same blocks together, conditions on our streets change,” said Mary Ellen Carroll, DEM Executive Director. “Quarterly counts help inform where and how we deploy our resources to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our street response. The progress is real, and it comes from hard, coordinated work across multiple agencies every day.”

“San Franciscans have seen the progress, and the mayor and I are united in our commitment to addressing homelessness and helping unhoused residents find stability and support,” said District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar. “I look forward to the day when every person and family has stable, dignified housing.”

As tents and other fixed structures become rarer on San Francisco sidewalks, the city continues to add resources to get people in crisis off the street and connected to care. Last month, the city opened the RESET Center, a new facility that allows law enforcement to enforce public drug use laws while giving people suffering from addiction a pathway to access treatment and pursue recovery. The center is overseen by the Sheriff's Office with clinical guidance from the Department of Public Health (DPH).

Between May 4 and June 4, the center had 510 admissions for public intoxication. People admitted stayed longer than eight hours on average to stabilize, with 29% accepting referrals to ongoing care.

Officers transferred custody at the RESET Center in an average of 19 minutes, a fraction of the time a jail booking takes, putting them back on patrol faster. Powering this handoff is CareConnect, a new application developed by the Mayor’s Office of Innovation that gives staff across agencies a real-time view of available beds at the RESET Center. Officers can use the app to place immediate holds on beds and seamlessly transfer custody—reducing delays between arrest, stabilization, and placement into ongoing care.

“The early success of the RESET Center shows that accountability and support can go hand in hand. In its first month alone, the center had more than 500 admissions, with 29% of individuals accepting referrals to services or further treatment—helping create pathways to care while supporting San Francisco's broader efforts to improve conditions on our streets,” said Sheriff Paul Miyamoto. “When public safety and public health work together, we can make meaningful progress for both individuals in crisis and the communities they call home.”

“We are focused on connecting people living on our streets and suffering with mental health and substance use disorders with the help they need to break the cycle of addiction and homelessness,” said Dan Tsai, DPH Director of Health. “Recent data showing declines in unsheltered homelessness and tent encampments and increased connections to effective treatment and recovery support shows that we are on the right track. We will continue the important work of ensuring that those who need our help get and stay in treatment.”

“I’ve consistently advocated that San Francisco should step up arrests and custodial interventions for public drug use because they have the potential to save lives,” said District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey. “The early results from the RESET Center are incredibly encouraging and demonstrate that this approach is far more effective than leaving people on the street without intervention, support, or a pathway to recovery.”

"Today's numbers are a milestone—the lowest tent count and the fewest large vehicles on our streets since the city started counting,” said Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman. “San Francisco has invested significantly in shelter and permanent housing for formerly homeless people, because we cannot ask people to leave the streets without a place to go, and we cannot continue asking neighborhoods to absorb the burdens of a broken system indefinitely. Last year Mayor Lurie and the Board enacted legislation to end unregulated RV encampments while opening new housing pathways for families living in vehicles. Today's record-low tent and RV counts are the result of finally pairing that shelter and housing capacity with real outreach and real enforcement. San Francisco is showing how it’s done."