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