DATA STORY

Permanent Supportive Housing Occupancy and Total Permanent Housing Units

Tracks how many site-based permanent housing units are in use and how many total permanent housing resources are available through the Homelessness Response System

This page displays two measures:

The average occupancy rate in site-based Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH)
The number of permanent housing resources

Permanent Supportive Housing Occupancy Rate

Measure Description

Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) provides long-term, affordable housing and services for people with complex social and health needs exiting homelessness. The services include case management and housing stability support.

The Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing (HSH) funds and partners with nonprofit organizations to operate these programs. Some PSH is located in dedicated buildings (site-based), while other units are scattered throughout the city.

This measure tracks the occupancy rate of site-based PSH units funded by HSH.

Why This Measure is Important

PSH is a key component of San Francisco’s Homelessness Response System. High occupancy rates mean the City is making the most of its housing resources to serve more people. HSH works closely with providers to reduce vacancies and shorten the time units remain empty after someone moves out, so people experiencing homelessness can move into stable housing as quickly as possible.

Tracking the occupancy rate is important for understanding PSH utilization.

Average Occupancy Rate Within Site-Based Permanent Supportive Housing

The chart's legend is below:

Y-axis: Average occupancy rate for each month
X-Axis: Month and calendar year

Data notes and sources

Visit DataSF to access the scorecard data.

Data is updated monthly.

Data lag time: 3 weeks

HSH tracks unit level inventory in the ONE system. This measure includes buildings in lease-up, meaning new buildings that HSH is in the process of moving clients into. This measure differs from the one shown on the HSH’s Vacancies in PSH Dashboard, which excludes buildings in lease-up and has a higher target as a result.

The department pulls a report each month to get the average occupancy rate.

How Performance is Measured

HSH tracks each night that a unit is occupied each month. They calculate occupancy rate by dividing the total number of days that units were occupied by the total number of days that units were available. This gives an average occupancy rate across all units over time, even if some units were only available part of the period.

Note that the data displayed on this page differs slightly from HSH’s Vacancies in PSH Dashboard. Unlike this Vacancies in PSH Dashboard, this measure tracks occupancy rates in all PSH buildings, including new buildings in the process of being filled for the first time. Because HSH is newly placing people into these buildings, the overall occupancy rate will appear lower.

Number of Permanent Housing Resources

Measure Description

PSH is only one type of permanent housing program in the Homelessness Response System. This measure tracks the total number of permanent housing units across multiple programs, specifically:

Site-based permanent supportive housing (PSH): long-term affordable housing with a range of supportive services. Units are in a building dedicated to PSH that provides onsite services.
Scattered site permanent supportive housing (PSH): long-term affordable housing with a range of supportive services. Tenants live in private-market units and receive support from mobile service providers.
Rapid rehousing units: time-limited subsidies to help people become stable in housing.
Shallow subsidies: subsidies that cover a portion of rent in private-market units.
Housing ladder: PSH residents who no longer require intensive case management support services may move to more independent housing settings.

The Permanent Supportive Housing Occupancy Rate measure above only shows occupancy for site-based PSH. The number of site-based PSH units is orange in the graph below.

Why This Measure is Important

Permanent housing is a key component of San Francisco’s Homeless Response System. The number of available units or resources impacts the number of people HSH can directly help exit homelessness.

Number of Permanent Housing Units

The chart's legend is below:

Y-axis: Number of units
X-Axis: Fiscal year and quarter

Data notes and sources

Visit DataSF to access the scorecard data.

Data is updated quarterly

Data lag time: 3 weeks.

HSH Inventory based on average daily capacity for a given reporting period.

How Performance is Measured

HSH released their strategic plan, Home by the Bay, in early 2023. To meet the goals laid out in the strategic plan, HSH identified the need for 3,250 new units of permanent housing by 2028. This measure tracks the total number of units of permanent housing that HSH funds, as part of assessing progress towards that goal.

The number of units may vary month to month based on total inventory changes, such as new buildings opening or major rehabilitation projects.