The Community Shelter Board's annual point-in-time count in January found 2,587 people experiencing homelessness the day the count was taken in Columbus and Franklin County.
That's a 1.2% increase from 2025, according to the shelter board's report released Wednesday during a press event at the Columbus Metropolitan Library's Main Branch downtown.
But while the number of people using emergency shelters decreased, the number of people living outside significantly increased over the past year, from 455 in 2025 to 651 this year. That's the largest single-year jump since 2023. That worries shelter board President and CEO Shannon Isom.
"It still makes you pause when you see an almost 50% increase in unsheltered homelessness from the year before. But it is trending in a way that we know and we've been told it would trend," Isom said.
Isom said that jump illustrates the continuing need for affordable housing in the area. Isom said that one reason there's a growing number of unhoused people living outside is because shelter stays are longer than ever before because there's a dearth of housing.
"We don't have enough diversity of housing, meaning deeply affordable housing, housing for folks that are on fixed income or are on very little income," Isom said.
"It's imperative that we have housing in this community, not just a shelter bed."
Isom also said the number of people living outside is growing because more have chronic substance abuse issues or severe mental illness.
Columbus City Councilwoman Tiara Ross, who chairs the council's Housing, Homelessness and Criminal Justice Committee, said without more investment, the number of people living outside will continue to increase. Columbus City Council included an additional $7.2 million in the city's 2026 budget for the Community Shelter Board.
But Ross said, "That is not enough."
The count found that the number of individuals using shelters actually dropped from 2,101 in 2025 to 1,936 in 2026, an 8% decrease.
But because of the lack of housing, Isom said the shelter board wants to acquire three hotels to help ease pressure on shelters.
Isom said those hotels would also help house people who need to move quickly if their apartments are deemed unsafe.
"That if there is another Sawyer Tower or Colonial Village, we'll have people that then won't be pushed into the shelter system or maybe on the land. Instead, we could have a flex space that could coordinate for a growing city and also that is aligned with a growing crisis, a lack of housing," Isom said.
The report said family homelessness declined for the second consecutive year, by 3.8% compared to 2025.
The board said targeted prevention and diversion programs coupled with housing placements and a direct cash transfer program were among the reasons.
