North King County has the worst homeless shelter shortage in the county

By Oliver J. Moffat

Compared to other cities, Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Bothell, and Woodinville have the worst shortage of temporary shelters for homeless people in King County.

A table from KCRHA shows the ratio of unsheltered homeless people
compared to the number of available temporary shelter beds across King County sub-regions 

According to a report from the King County Regional Homeless Authority (KCRHA), the shortage of available shelter beds in North King County is worse than the rest of the county. 

Every other year, KCRHA conducts a federally mandated Point-in-Time (PIT) estimate of people experiencing homelessness. The estimates are generally considered an undercount. On April 22, KCRHA presented 2024 PIT data to the King County Council.

According to the report, homelessness is escalating across King County: An estimated 16,868 people experiencing homelessness were counted in 2024, an increase of 26% from 2022’s 13,368 estimate, and 43.5% higher than the 11,751 people counted in 2020.

But North King County is lagging behind the rest of the region in sheltering our homeless neighbors. The total number of people experiencing homelessness in North King County increased substantially from 260 in 2020 to 1,900 in 2024. 

But the number of temporary shelter beds increased from 85 in 2022 to only 198 beds in 2024, according to KCRHA.

A table from KCRHA shows how much each North King County city
contributed to homeless response programs in 2024

And North King County has the worst homeless shelter shortage in the county. There were 1,730 unsheltered homeless individuals and families in North King County with no place to sleep, but only 198 emergency shelter, transitional housing, and safe haven beds available: a ratio of 9.6 people experiencing homelessness for every available shelter bed. 

That ratio is higher than the average 2.1 to 1 ratio for the rest of the county; the next highest ratio was in Southeast King County, where the ratio was 2.3 to 1.

Last year, KCRHA said North King County needs more shelter beds. The five North King County cities (Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Bothell, and Woodinville) each contribute to KCRHA for coordinated services.