Briefing · Homelessness
What FactHub has checked about how fast California's spending grew compared with Texas, Florida, New York and the U.S., what results followed in homelessness, schools, Medi-Cal and high-speed rail, and what auditors and prosecutors found. Each rating comes from a linked fact check.
California's state spending per resident, school spending per pupil and Medi-Cal spending grew faster after 2012 than in the other three most populous states. These checks compare that growth with results in homelessness, schools, health coverage and high-speed rail, and with what auditors found about how the money was managed.
State spending per resident grew 61% after inflation in California from FY2012 to FY2024, against 26% in New York and Florida, 25% for the U.S. and -5% in Texas.
California's homeless count rose 57% from 2015 to 2025, against 32% nationally; 63.5% of homeless Californians were unsheltered in 2025.
California's per-pupil school spending rose 126% from FY2013 to FY2024, against 51% to 65% in peer states. Adjusted for student demographics, Florida, Mississippi and Texas ranked higher on 2022 national tests.
California's Medicaid spending grew 77% after inflation from FY2013 to FY2024, the most among peers, and its uninsured rate fell the most, to 6.1%.
California high-speed rail's first phase is estimated at about $255 million per mile, roughly twice Texas Central's estimate and about five times the World Bank's European benchmark.
Two places in the comparison improved results while spending less per person or student than California. Research on what caused their gains is described in the linked checks.
Mississippi's grade 4 reading score rose from 209 in 2013 to 219 in 2024, above the U.S. public average of 214, while it spent among the least per pupil.
Mississippi's 2013 law paired reading coaches and teacher training with holding back third graders who could not read at grade level. Studies credit the whole program; holding students back explains part of the 4th-grade gain.
The Houston area reports a reduction of more than 60% in homelessness since 2011 under one coordinated Housing First system. It had about six times more federal homelessness funding per homeless person than Los Angeles County in 2021, and lower rents.
The City of Los Angeles's homelessness budget was 9.4 times larger in FY2023-24 than in FY2016-17, and the county's Homeless Initiative plan grew 3.5 times from FY2017-18 to FY2025-26.
Over 2016-2026 the official homeless count rose about 56% countywide and 59% in the city.
In a FY2023-24 sample of City-funded interim housing sites, 47.8% of exits went to homelessness, against a median of about 22% to permanent housing.
From 2022 to 2026, five separate reviewers issued seven reports finding that homelessness money was not fully tracked, accounted for or tied to results.
The homelessness fraud cases federal prosecutors announced in September 2026 allege or admit about $10 million diverted. The $2.3 billion often cited is the funding a court-appointed assessor reviewed, not an amount found missing.
Has California's spending grown faster than comparable states' without a matching improvement in results?
Did California's homelessness grow faster than the nation's?
Do lower-spending states outperform California's schools once demographics are considered?
Did Mississippi's reading scores rise above the nation's after its 2013 literacy law?
Did Medi-Cal spending grow faster than peers' while auditors flagged questionable payments?
How does high-speed rail's cost per mile compare, and what has $15 billion bought?
Did homelessness and outcomes for people served improve as Los Angeles multiplied its spending?
Did Los Angeles spend more on homelessness after 2016, and did homelessness fall?
Have audits repeatedly found that Los Angeles and California can't track whether homelessness money is working?
Were billions of dollars in Los Angeles homelessness money lost to fraud?
Auditors could not trace substantial funds and LAHSA could not produce a complete balance sheet in 2026, so total losses are unknown. A full audit of LAHSA's books, or reconciled city spending records, would settle it.
Three defendants are charged and presumed innocent, and one has agreed to plead guilty. Verdicts, pleas and any further charges from the federal task force will show how much fraud is proven.
No data isolates what would have happened without the spending. Studies that track outcomes for people served, rather than one-night counts, would help answer it.
Growth in homelessness budgets compared with growth in the homeless count.
Register of 13 audit findings and fraud cases, 2022-2026, with what each dollar figure measures.
Register entries by year and category.
Amounts alleged or admitted in the four 2026 homelessness fraud cases.
LAHSA homeless counts and city and county homelessness budgets, 2015-2026, with growth multiples and exit outcomes.
Homeless counts for LA County and the City of Los Angeles, 2015-2026.
City homelessness budgets and county Homeless Initiative plans.
Spending and results indicators for California, Texas, Florida, New York, the U.S. and Mississippi.
Growth in state spending per resident after inflation, FY2012 to FY2024.
Homeless people per 10,000 residents, 2015 and 2025.
Growth in per-pupil spending, FY2013 to FY2024.
Grade 4 reading scores in Mississippi, California and the U.S.
Growth in total Medicaid spending after inflation, FY2013 to FY2024.
Approximate cost per mile of California high-speed rail and other projects.
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