Data-Informed Decisions
Partners Aligned Toward Housing Solutions (PATHS) brings data together from service providers and agencies to help our community make smart decisions about how to prevent and address homelessness. In 2022, an estimated 18,000 people experienced homelessness in Oregon. We want to understand local needs and experiences.
Click on a icon below for individual information or browse the page for all the homeless data.
You can also download the data sheets for each section of information HERE.
Service Provider
Data from service providers.
Student Homeless
Students experiencing homelessness data.
PIT Count
Point In Time Count Data for Polk County.
Rural Polk County
Rural Data in Polk County.
Housing Data
Housing Data to show rent burden, vacancy, etc.
Service
Providers
Information Coming Soon
Students &
Homelessness
Rural Polk County
McKinney-Vento Data
Students who “lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence” are experiencing homelessness. This includes youth and families who are doubling up (sharing housing with one or more families or couch surfing), living in transitional or emergency shelters, staying in hotels/motels, or sleeping in cars, camps or a place not designated for sleeping.
Students in Rural Polk County
Experiencing Homelessness By The Year
Every school district in Oregon has a designated Homeless Student Liaison to provide direct assistance to homeless families and youths. These numbers represent the count that has been collected by a liaison in Polk County school districts in the last few years.
Central School District 13J
Dallas School District
Falls City School District
Willamina School District
Perrydale School District
Living situations of students
experiencing homelessness data
Available through the Oregon Department of Education
or download the data sheet below
Where Are They Sleeping?
Double Up/Couch Surfing
Unsheltered
Sheltered
Motel
Polk County
PIT Count
Every Year
during the last ten days of January, our region conducts a comprehensive count of local population experiencing homelessness. The Point In Time Count measures the prevalence of homelessness in each community and collects information on individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
This year, the Polk County Family & Community Outreach Department partnered with multiple agencies to survey people throughout rural Polk County (except West Salem) not only about where they sleep on the night of January 23, 2023, but also other barriers they face related to housing.
What is the Point-In-Time Count?
The Point-in-Time (PIT) Count is an annual, nationwide event that happens in the last week of January. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development asks communities to individually count their homeless populations to identify how many individuals and households are homeless in the community, and to determine some of their key characteristics.
The annual PIT Count helps measure our successes and further understand our challenges from one year to the next.
Who is Counted?
| Sheltered Count | People staying in emergency shelters or transitional housing |
| Unsheltered Count | People staying in cars, encampments, building doorways, under blankets on heating grates, or other places that aren’t intended for shelter. |
HUD’s Point-In-Time (PIT) count only measured the number of people who are in a shelter o a transitional housing setting, or those seen on streets during counts. Most families and youth who are or experience homelessness do not stay in shelter, traditional housing, or on the streets. These individuals or families are generally “couch surfing” (staying with others) instead.
There can be many reasons who an individual or family are not using shelter options, they are full, lack of appropriate options, concern about safety, etc. Many families are less likely than single adults to stay on the streets or outdoor locations where they can be included in the PIT count.
The limitations of a PIT count cannot reach all of the people who are homeless in the community over a period of time. People can cycle in and out of homelessness, some people will not be homeless during the count but may have been the day before, or may become homeless the day after.
Decreasing homelessness counts do not equate to reduced homelessness.
Rural Polk County Point In Time Count Data
180
Individuals Experiencing Homelessness Or At Risk Of Homelessness in Polk County, Oregon in 2023
Adults (25+)
142
Youth (18-24)
16
Youth (0-17)
22
Demographics
Individuals Experiencing Homelessness Or At Risk Of Homelessness in Polk County, Oregon in 2023
54% Male
38% Female
7% Veteran
7% Seniors (65+)
8% Transgender, Questioning or Unknown
91
Unsheltered Homeless
Sleeping outside, in a vehicle, RV, or someplace not intended for human habitation.
43
Sheltered Homeless
Sleeping in a temporary or emergency shelter, transitional housing, or a hotel.
46
At Risk of Homeless
Couch surfing, sleeping in unsafe or tumultuous housing, facing eviction, or currently in jail.
Youth Surveyed
16%
of the 38 Polk County youth surveyed are currently unsheltered.
Chronically Homeless
43%
of homelessness or those at risk have been homeless for a year or more, or have been more than once in their life.
Community Connection
84%
of homelessness or those at risk have ties to the community that they are currently living in.
Mental Health
48%
of homelessness or those at risk report mental health impacts their ability to maintain stable employment or housing.
At Risk of Homelessness
Barriers or Current Living Situation
Unsheltered Homeless
Current Living Situation
Polk County Data – Each City Has Its Own
Each city has it own unique number for those experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness.
View the map below and click on a marker to see how many are in your Polk County Community.
Want To Know More?
Want to know more or how we got our numbers? Have questions you want to ask us? Click one of the links below to view or contact us to find out.
Printable Data Sheet
Download your own copy of the 2023 Rural Polk County Point In Time Count Data sheet.
PDF form for you to download and print.
Point In Time Count
Methodology Report
Want to know how we got our numbers? Read the Point In Time Count Methodology Report to find out.
PDF form for you to download and read.
Contact For Questions?
For more information regarding the 2023 Polk County Point In Time Count, please contact us.
Please click the button bellow.
More Information about PIT Count and Homelessness
A Point-In-Time (PIT) count is a one-day snapshot of homelessness in shelters and on the streets within a community.
A PIT count estimates how many people are experiencing homelessness in emergency shelters, in transitional housing and in unsheltered locations on the day of the count.
Rural
Polk County
Rural Polk County refers to the
Area West of Highway 51
This includes the communites of Dallas, Falls City, Grand Ronde, Independence, Monmouth, and Willamina
Local Data
Homelessness in Rural Polk County 2023
Homelessness data for the surrounding rural area of Polk County Oregon.
Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) notifies any community with a population of over 10,000 that is over 25% severely rent burdened. Dallas (as well as Independence at 28% and Monmouth at 33%) is above that mark
191 of them were with their families and 22 of them were unaccompanied youth. In the 2021-22 school year, 44 of these students were in the Dallas School District. In the 2022-23 school year, 74 students in the Dallas School District experienced homelessness.
Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action Agency (MWVCAA) supports the process which includes intake interviews and then builds a list prioritized according to needs and vulnerabilities. Out of the 90 households, 63 are from Dallas; 55 are experiencing unsheltered homelessness; 27 are families with minor children.
This list is maintained by the Homeless Outreach Prevention Team at Polk County FCO, and they work in collaboration with partners across the county to provide resources.
In the 2021-22 season, Polk Warming Centers were open 81 nights, served 44 unique guests, and provided 371 nights of shelter.
In the 2022-23 season, Polk Warming Centers were open 106 nights, served 183 unique guests, and provided 1,060 nights of shelter.
Rent Is Hight Vacancies Are Low
Rural Polk County data sheet
Download the PDF version of the Homelessness in Rural Polk County data sheet.
