The Metro: Homelessness rising among families in Oakland County

By: Sam Corey

29 January 2026 at 18:28

Over the past decade, homelessness has been down in Oakland County. But in the last three years, it’s been trending up again.

The 2024 point-in-time count found that about 1,700 people were homeless in Oakland County.

Last week, the locality conducted its latest count while Wayne County had one on Wednesday. We don’t have the official results from either count yet, but, according to Ryan Hertz, the number of families that are homeless is growing, even as chronically homeless individuals are getting housing more often.

The Metro’s Sam Corey spoke with the CEO and president of the anti-poverty organization, Lighthouse, to learn more.

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