2026 Data Shows Drop In Homelessness 

Homeless advocates have released new figures that show a drop in the number of unhoused people in West Virginia.  

The Point In Time survey counts the number of unsheltered people in each state in a 24-hour period. It was conducted in West Virginia beginning at 4 p.m. on February 25, and shows 1,129 people in West Virginia living in emergency shelters, transitional housing and on the streets.  

That’s down almost 800 people from 2025, when 1,925 people were counted.  

Ashley Hawkins with the West Virginia Coalition to End Homelessness said one key category that showed a drop was unaccompanied young people between 16 and 24 years of age. The survey shows there were 136 this year, including those who had aged out of foster care, had interaction with the juvenile justice system or had become emancipated.  

“West Virginia has pretty successfully been able to lower the percentage that we’re seeing of youth-related homelessness, that very specific age demographic, and we were actually cited in Congress as having reduced that number by about 30%,” Hawkins said. 

There has also been a drop in the number of homeless families.  

“Family homelessness presents pretty prevalently within the shelter system. We’re also seeing families who they may be in a motel, either on a voucher or maybe they have donated funds from a community group or church or something to put them up in a hotel or motel,” Hawkins said. 

She attributed the drop in both categories to specific funding allocated to youth and family homelessness.  

There was an increase in the number of chronically single adults, which she said is largely attributed to the lack of affordable housing.