NYC spends $81,705 per homeless person, homeless cost set to hit $97K each in NYC

Spending per homeless person since 2019:
NYC +187%, SF +190%, PDX +430%, LA +480%. Average: +320

Floor estimates.

Homeless pop over same period: +13%

Spending up ~320%. Problem up ~13%. pic.twitter.com/tW2pBan5rY

— Charlie Smirkley (@charliesmirkley) March 16, 2026

Portland: ~$18K per homeless person in 2019. ~$95K in 2024. +430%.

Homeless pop: essentially flat. Deaths of homeless quadrupled.

Floor estimate excludes Portland police, BOEC, state and federal pass-through costs.

Sources: OPB · ECOnorthwest 2025 · ProPublica 2025. pic.twitter.com/flIVfAvKw7

— Charlie Smirkley (@charliesmirkley) March 16, 2026

I blame the rising cost per homeless person on:
Fentanyl/drugs (intransigence multiplier).
NGO incentive misalignment (reward service not solution).
Housing First ideology (religious belief now).
SMI revolving door (deinstitutionalisation never fixed).
Cost disease.

— Charlie Smirkley (@charliesmirkley) March 16, 2026

San Fran: 35K per homeless person in 2019. $102K in 2024. +190%. Floor estimates.

Total homeless pop over the same period: up 4%.

Source: SF HSH budgets · SF PIT counts pic.twitter.com/AUwvBcjXcV

— Charlie Smirkley (@charliesmirkley) March 16, 2026