And all of these figures are suspect because it's impossible to get an accurate count. The real figures are probably much higher. Because of the laws against "illegal" camping, here and elsewhere, constant harassment by cops and the danger of attack, homeless people hide. Locally, the count is done mostly by volunteers, on a cold night in January. It gives some basis to compare one year against others, but the main value of the count is the breakdown into categories.

http://www.lanecounty.org/departments/hhs/hsc/documents/press_release_2016_pit_count.pdf