Median days homeless in shelter: Seattle/King County vs. other large regions, FY2015-FY2024

What this chart asks

How long do people stay homeless in King County's shelter system compared with other large regions, and how has that changed?

Why it is shown this way

• A line chart shows the trend for each series over the same ten fiscal years.
• The y axis starts at zero so the size of the change is not exaggerated.
• The large-region median and Houston give a typical comparison and a well-known low-stay comparison.

Chart annotations

These markers provide relevant context for interpreting the chart. Their timing or position does not, by itself, establish causation.

COVID-19 period

2020–2021

Shelters reduced capacity and many lengthened stays during FY2020-FY2021.

Why this is marked: Readers should know that stays rose everywhere in these years for pandemic-related reasons; King County's gap with the median widened afterward.

Data and accessibility

Download chart data · Open accessible table · Download PNG · Download SVG

Dataset homeless-system-performance, analysis king-days-homeless-vs-peers

Sources

This chart draws on the sources of the dataset versions it visualizes.

Homeless system performance: Seattle/King County vs. 66 large U.S. Continuums of Care, FY2015-FY2024

1. HUD Exchange, CoC System Performance Measures Data Since FY 2015 CoC-level System Performance Measures, one sheet per fiscal year FY2015-FY2024, as submitted by each CoC.

   Retrieved October 10, 2026. U.S. government work (public domain). Public domain; not rehosted here.

   Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

2. KCRHA, "Understanding System Performance Measures: A HUD Federal Report Overview," CoC Board, April 1, 2026 KCRHA's own FY2024 and FY2025 figures and its explanation that record cleanup drove part of the FY2025 changes.

   Retrieved October 10, 2026. Public agency document. Linked, not rehosted.

   Archived copy captured October 10, 2026

Limitations

• HUD System Performance Measures are self-reported by each region and not audited.
• Median of 67 large Continuums of Care, each reporting its own median; it is not a pooled median of people.
• Descriptive comparison; it does not show why stays lengthened.