TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa’s homeless population has grown 45% since 2016 and 33% since 2021. To see where efforts in helping them stand, the 2025 point-in-time count has officially begun.
2 News Oklahoma asked officials and those living on the street about what’s needed most.
“I never seen this many homeless people,” said Tulsa native Walter Johnson.
Johnson and his dog, Georgia, have lived on the streets for a couple of years now.
Without a home where he can keep Georgia — or anybody to look after her — he told us he has trouble finding work.
When asked what the hardest part of each day was for him, he replied, “Waking up knowing that I ain't got a place for my home, and knowing that, that I can't let my dog just go outside and run around when she wants to.”
Thousands of Tulsans also call themselves homeless. Homelessness is at its highest number on record. 2024 saw the number climb up to 1,389, higher than the pandemic spike in 2020 (1,221), according to the yearly Point-in-Time survey.
“Unfortunately, we have seen a trend in homelessness rising across Tulsa,” said Mark Smith, CEO of Housing Solutions, who conducted the survey.
“When we had pandemic era relief, emergency rental assistance, there was more resources going [around],” he told us. “We found people were able to stay in housing, even if they're in a financial crisis. But as those programs ended, we found more people unfortunately falling into homelessness and are struggling.”
Dozens of volunteers on Jan. 24 roamed the streets to count how many homeless people we call neighbors in 2025.
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“This is important data that is being collected today to really get an understanding of where people are, who those people are, and what their needs are,” Emily Hall told 2 News.
Hall is Tulsa Mayor Monroe Nichols’ point person for tackling homelessness, helping him reach his ambitious campaign goal of ending homelessness by 2030.
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She said the point-in-time count will inform their strategy.
When asked if the 2030 goal is still doable, she replied, “Absolutely. I mean, I think that today shows just how many folks are a part of this work and how critical this work is.”
“It is absolutely doable,” she added. “Will it be a challenge? Yes, but one that we can reach and one that we can reach as a city together.”
Smith told us they expect to release the full results to the public in a couple of months, after they tabulate the data and send it to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
This data helps inform strategy and federal funding.
A Way Home for Tulsa is a conglomerate of over 50 providers and organizations all working together to address homelessness in Tulsa County.
Every year, they receive money from HUD to tackle the issue. Last week, they got $8.6 million.
“That's a 200% increase since 2019 in funding, which is huge," Beth Edwards, the conglomerate's chair, told 2 News.
She added that it "will make a big impact in our ability to really put people in housing and get them the services that they need.”
But she says it's not nearly enough to address the issue.
AWH4T hopes to find out through the survey what needs funding the most.
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